Hidden Codes
by FailingDemi
Summary: A phrase, a hidden word beneath the phrase. A different meaning, a meaning that's deep. Attempts, attempts for love. Hidden codes, codes that meant different. Once SasuSaku, now SasuSakuSai
1. Just Three Words

A/N: Demi-kun here again, and wow...lots of one-shots. XP Anyways, forgive me of this kind of sudden thing. :P But I just add random things just for kicks. And, I think I inserted a code around here and a secret message behind three words. SOZ, this is just random, if you figure out before the third piece, I congratulate you.

But anyways, I don't give a darn about this and how sucky this might turn out, so...yeah. And this is short:O So, excuse me if I leave you wondering.

**SASUKE AND SAKURA PAIRING FOR ALL YOU LOVERS OUT THERE!!!**

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I am just a slink. ;)

Dedicated to: My friend,** iCoco**, thanks to her for the feedback and the ideas. AND **MYSELF**! (:O DOH' I'm conceited. :P)

* * *

She laughed happily, while plopping onto the soft grass. She was gasping for air, as the grass tickled her arms and neck. "Ah! Sasuke!" Sakura cried, jerking up from her usual sleeping position.

This had snapped the Uchiha prodigy out of trance with his eighteen year old teammate. "Hn?"

Sasuke pushed himself off the tree, while raising an eyebrow. Sakura waved her hands in the air, "Naruto said that he's not coming today!"

"For what? Training?" Sasuke asked. Sakura nodded, before dropping back down onto the ground. Sasuke looked at her with saddened onyx eyes, Sakura had grown. She had grown from a latching genin to a powerful and independent chunin. And the worse part was that, Sasuke wasn't there to witness it.

He observed her glossy and lively emerald eyes that seemed to suck him in. It held so much color, so much liveliness and pureness. It was hard to believe that a girl like Sakura did anything wrong. A smile unknowingly graced his lips, and Sasuke haven't have caught that rare facial expression, but Sakura did.

"Ah. Sasuke…"

"Yeah?"

"I'm tired," Sakura replied with a pout. She smoothed out her long pink hair, and stood up. She ran next to Sasuke.

"…"

"So what are we going to do now?"

"…Sakura."

"What?"

"I thought you had to come here for an emergency," Sasuke replied, the smile already gone from his lips. Sakura smiled sheepishly.

"Hmm, maybe. I really had to…release my pent up energy."

"Right, whatever."

"Let's go eat at Ichiraku, Sasuke!"

"Hn."

Sasuke followed Sakura as she trailed ahead; he watched the pink hair brushing behind her back. He remembered how he had simply stated to his fan girls that he preferred long hair over short. Sasuke recalled the time when Sakura had grown her hair just to get the favor of him, and then cut it off in times of trouble.

Those times, he never treasured but it was only a memory. He'd never admit, but Sasuke missed the times when Sakura added the suffix to his name. Her emerald eyes would always sparkle whenever she spoke.

He shook his head, and literally smacked himself mentally. 'Why am I thinking of her like this? She's nothing but a teammate and that is all.'

Something brushed against the trees, next to the path they were walking. A person clothed entirely in black to blend into the shadows of the forest. He opened his rough hands, placed inside his palm was a small needle. A poison needle.

He peeked over towards Sasuke who had his guard entirely down; the Uchiha's eyes were nothing but in daze as he was entranced with the girl in front of him. This was the perfect time to act, and that is to shoot the dart.

Sasuke never noticed a poison dart shoot at his hand. But at the last second he felt it melt on his hand, He glanced at it in question; the small needle had already melted into a puddle on his hand. 'What was-?'

At first, pain started to stem from his right hand in a heartbeat. Then his hand became frozen, he twitched it, and soon…he couldn't move.

**THUD**

"Sasuke?!" Sakura cried, turning around and running towards him. She knelt beside him, putting a hand on his chest to help him stand up. His eyes were closed; cold sweat was running down his forehead. One word slipped out through his lips and that was, _'Pain…'

* * *

_

Next Morning...

"Sasuke?" What appeared in said person's view were two pairs of worried jade eyes.

"Eh?"

"You passed out, since yesterday."

"…" Sasuke sat up from the hospital bed, rubbing his head. "What…happened?"

"I don't know, you…were poisoned and fainted."

"…Sakura," he said a bit weakly. Sakura cocked her head.

"Hmm?"

"I…" his breath was running short, as the threat of falling back into unconsciousness came. Sasuke closed his eyes as he whispered the remaining two words into her ears, before slipping away.

"…?"

She never understood what those three words had meant. Sakura withdrew her head and stared down nervously at him. The three magical words that confused Sakura, but that was enough, enough to tell her of the feelings he had.

_I miss you

* * *

_

A/N: And that's it for chapter one:3 Never expected that eh? 'I miss you'. And that's the real mystery. Brain teaser for everyone who reads this:

**Why would Sasuke miss Sakura if Sasuke hangs out with her everyday?**

Yeah, I'll give you something to chew on before the next chapter. ;D

Dewa Mata!


	2. Huh? Numbers?

A/N: And with chapter two!!! I finally fought my lazy side to actually post this, but this'll just add another part of the mystery for you guys to solve. The second part to the mystery of 'I miss you', should be easy for you guys to solve. :P

People, it isn't that hard.

Disclaimer: I don't owneth Naruto.

* * *

The following Afternoon: 

"Sasuke!" Sakura cried, bursting through the wooden door into Sasuke's room.

"Hn?"

Sakura jammed a piece of paper in front of Sasuke. "Explain this!"

"I miss you," Sasuke read aloud without any sort of emotion. He looked up at Sakura with a raised eyebrow. "This says what it says. I miss you."

Sakura only gave him a glare, commanding him to tell out more.

Sasuke sighed and grabbed a pen lying on the table; he crossed out the 'M' and replaced underneath it '12'; crossing out the 'I' he replaced a '15'; the first 'S' replaced with a '22'; the second 'S' a '5'.

So now the message read, 'I 12, 15, 22, 5 you'. Sasuke then gave back the paper and circled a place beneath the message. "Write your name here."

Taking the pen hesitantly, she scribbled on it. "Now what? Sasuke, I-"

Sakura stopped as she saw Sasuke lying there sleeping. This has caused the Haruno to sweat drop, as she stared blankly at him. '…He sleeps fast…'

The girl stared at him a bit more, before grabbing the sheets and covering his sleeping form.

"SAKURA!!!" Ino's voice was heard through the halls, bouncing off the walls. She soon opened the door quickly.

Sakura made a gesture meaning that she should be a bit quieter. "What is it?"

"Chouji got himself a stomachache!" Ino said, grabbing Sakura's wrist and pulling her out.

'Sasuke still didn't give me any explanation,' Sakura thought while chewing on her lower lip. 'What do the numbers mean?'

"Sakura, what's wrong?"

"Huh? Oh nothing…it's nothing," Sakura lied, tightening her hand that was holding the paper. Ino looked skeptically before turning back to Chouji's room.

* * *

"There, just take that medication and you'll be fine," Sakura said, holding a translucent bottle with a thick liquid inside. She handed it to Shikamaru to take care of it. "Remember, it's a teaspoon." 

Shikamaru nodded, and pocketed it into his jounin pouch. He helped Chouji stand up. "Thanks, Sakura," Shikamaru muttered, while he aided his friend. Ino, on the other hand, stayed back.

She stayed silent for a while until Ino was sure that Shikamaru and Chouji were gone. Turning towards Sakura with a questioning and worrying stare, she asked, "Are you sure you're alright?"

Sakura sighed and dug in her pocket taking out the note Sasuke written.

"What's that?" she queried as she took the crumpled paper into her hand.

"I don't know," Sakura replied, taking back the scrap from her childhood friend. "I'm trying to understand what Sasuke said to me yesterday. The numbers here do nothing but confuse me."

Ino sweat dropped, while looking at Sakura in disbelief. "What did he say? If he said **that**, then I think you're naïve…"

"Huh?"

"Well, what did he say that confused the oh so great Haruno Sakura?" Ino asked, folding her arms across her chest.

"…'I miss you.'"

Ino's cheeks blew up, as her eyes widened. Her mouth opened but no words tumbled out. "…" 'WTF?! HE DIDN'T HAVE THE NERVE?!?! THAT GUY!' were the words that Ino really wanted to say.

"And then, he scratched out the 'miss and wrote numbers instead," Sakura said, pointing at the scratch lines and the numeral written underneath.

Ino stared at it for a while, running all the possibilities of what they meant. She withdrew her gaze and shrugged. "Sorry, girl I can't help you."

Ino patted Sakura's back before exiting the room. While Sakura only stared at the digits in confusion. "Twelve, fifteen, twenty-two, and five. What do they mean?"

* * *

Next Morning: 

"Sasuke," Sakura said mildly, while she opened the door slightly and peeked in. She saw that Sasuke was sitting against his pale blue pillows reading a book. He was unperturbed of her greeting, and only gave a grunt to acknowledge her presence.

Taking this as invitation inside, the Haruno girl walked inside. Sakura pulled out a chair from the table and sat there, facing Sasuke's hospital bed.

She reached into her weapon pouch, and with difficulty pulled the scribbled piece of paper out. Sakura showed it to Sasuke, who was hardly paying attention. "What do these numbers mean?"

Sasuke placed down his book and stared at her blankly, expecting her to delve deeper with that question.

"Ah, you know the ones you wrote before?"

"Oh."

"What do these mean?" Sakura asked sticking the paper in his face. Sasuke grabbed it and frowned, while she was looking at him with curiosity. He dropped it while sighing and picked up his book.

"If I told you, I'd be repeating things again…" Sasuke said calmly.

"…Why?"

Sasuke looked at her tiredly, not wanting to explain things further. "Just…never mind."

'Ugh!' Sakura thought, furrowing her brows as she played with the pen in her mouth. Having a slight idea she flicked the pen out from her lips and clicked it. Sakura scribbled something underneath the numbers, but was then found stumped. She started scratching her head in frustration. 'Stupid numbers! What are they?!?!'

Then a slight snort broke the silence. Questionably, she looked up at the Uchiha prodigy. His shoulders were slightly shaking and he had a frown but the edge was threatening to twitch upwards.

"What's the problem?!" Sakura commanded, a vein automatically appearing at the base of her neck. Sasuke raised the orange book a several inches higher to hide his smirk.

"Nothing," he replied impassively, but his grin said other wise.

Sakura narrowed her eyes into a glare, and tried to catch a glimpse of his face. "Well? I asked you! What's the problem? Poison getting to your head?"

"No."

Sakura growled, and slapped down the orange book from Sasuke's face, smashing it against the covers. She stared intently into Sasuke's onyx eyes. "Tell me."

"What? My secret?" Sasuke smirked mysteriously, as Sakura nodded.

Sakura waited for a few seconds, and after confirming that her teammate wouldn't speak, she egged him. "Tell me!"

Sasuke snickered, as he enjoyed taunting her. The raven-haired boy smiled mysteriously at Sakura, knowing the outcome of his sentence. "But I'm afraid."

Now things kept getting weirder, Sakura raised her eyebrows. Sasuke, afraid? He probably was afraid of dying or something. Whatever it was she couldn't lay a finger on it. "Of what?"

Sasuke sighed, hesitating before answering. "You."

"WHAT?!" Sakura screamed offended, grabbing Sasuke by the collar of his pale blue pajamas. He sighed yet again.

"That's what I mean," Sasuke said gently, removing Sakura's delicate hands from his collar. He picked up his book back from the covers and opened it, reading where he left off.

Sakura was about to snatch away the book and ask a second time, before a knock interrupted. The medic turned slightly towards the door, as a masked face peeked inside.

"Tsunade wants you in her office, Sakura," the man said coolly, the usual smile on his face. She gave Kakashi an obliging glance before exiting.

"So, Sasuke…how're you?" Kakashi asked.

Sasuke placed down his book, and sighed, replying sarcastically, "Just great."

"It's still strange why someone shot a poison dart at you," Kakashi said, seating next to his former stydent.

"Yeah, stranger still how Sakura's able to lug me all the way here," Sasuke shuddered. His sensei patted him on the back, recognizing his hurt dignity.

"So…" Kakashi was about to get a topic when his eyes landed on the book Sasuke had put down. "Oh, what's this? I never read this before."

"Oh that? That toad sage visited me just after I got cure of the poison," Sasuke said dully. Turning the book for Kakashi to read.

This seemed to spark interest in the silver-haired jounin, for Sasuke could identify a strange look in his eyes. "What did he give you?"

"It's for teenagers."

"Ah. So he finally toned down to be able to write books suitable for kids?"

"Mmm," Sasuke muttered, looking at the back of the book cover scanning his eyes over the label. "It's interesting so far…"

"What's in it, huh?"

"Neh, seventy-five ways of kissing, drama, a lot of half-naked people…groping each other…" Sasuke trailed on, unperturbed of what he said. Kakashi had his interest caught. "And the toad sage gave me the whole set and said that it wasn't sold yet."

"Why'd he give it to you?"

Sasuke shrugged. "He muttered something about 'oblivious to love', 'idiotic', 'naïve', and 'smarty-pants.'"

Kakashi nodded and stood up to be able to get something in his pouch. He produced his infamous 'Icha Icha Paradise' book that he always read. He gave it to Sasuke, who confusedly received it. "This…is the next step for you, my dear student."

"…?"

Kakashi dug his hands in his pockets, and stalked towards the door. "See you."

* * *

A/N: LOLOLO. :P No evil cliffe, but the mystery should still give you something to chew on. Yeah, blame Jiraiya. 

Fufufufu...

-Dewa Mata!


	3. I am teh therapist, yah

A/N: Be amazed, people. I finally updated cus SOMEONE kept bugging me. -cough- But I dun mind. This is the third chapter of Hidden Codes. From what I can foresight, this story won't end until it's in the tens. But anyhoo, Naruto makes the scene in here! He's the best quirkiest boy in the AU society in the AU called Demi-kun's. And right now I'm just acting up cus...I'm eating an apple.

EXCUSE THE ERRORS, I HARDLY HAD TIME TO PROOF-READ. Also, yes I know it is usually short, and making the chapters longer would reveal more things, which I don't want you to know. So, it'll eventually become longer...later. -ish hiding something from fellow readers-

Disclaimer: I dun own any of the Naruto characters.

* * *

"Jeez, Kakashi-sensei lied!" Sakura exclaimed to herself, swearing at her former sensei. And because of that she had been embarrassed in front of Tsunade. "Damn him. Because of him, I couldn't get Sasuke to tell me a damn thing!" 

Looking ahead, she saw the familiar bug master strolling by, in his usual coat and hidden face.

"Ah! Shino!" Sakura declared, running up towards said person. Shino raised an eyebrow, as Sakura shoved the note with the strange code in front of him. "Shino, can you decipher this?"

Shino is a genius, perhaps he could help, Sakura assumed. The bug master eyed it in curiosity. After reading it for a while, Shino looked back at Sakura. "Sakura-san…I'm afraid that I have no knowledge upon this, perhaps consulting Uchiha might help you. This does seem like he can solve. However-"

"Shino."

"If you sorely need my aid, then I can spare some of my book worms to investigate in the Konoha Scroll Depository, to help you. And if you need any other help-"

"Shino…"

"Perhaps, I can consult Shikamaru in this. And Sakura-san," Shino said, "It's not polite to cut into my sentences."

Shino returned the piece of paper to her, "What's best is to ask Uchiha yourself. Now, I must be going." And he walked away.

"Sasuke..." Sakura muttered with a frown implanted on her face. "…he won't tell me anything."

* * *

Sasuke's onyx eyes scanned page to page on Jiraiya's new series of Icha Icha. So far the plot was very lax, and he had to admit that it made him churn. But, being Uchiha Sasuke, he didn't show any emotion has he calmly absorbed it's 'ideas' into his mind. 

'…my…god…' Sasuke placed down the book, his face had a very thin line of red marked on it. '…he actually…k-kissed her and…' Sasuke felt a shiver sent down his spine. '…' He stared at it; no one would know that he was made a pervert over night.

"Sasuke?" Sakura asked, sticking her head through the crack of the door. He quickly picked it up and looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"What?"

"Can you stand?" Sakura asked, placing a clipboard on the wooden table near the hospital bed.

"I guess."

"We've got back results from the poison that had been ejected into your body, and the poison actually drained you of chakra and mostly all your strength. It's a wonder that you can move a bit," Sakura said, walking towards Sasuke. The medic sat at the side of Sasuke's bed; she leaned forward and brushed her fingers against his bangs. "Don't push yourself that hard."

Sasuke stiffened under Sakura's soft touch but was slowly easing. "I won't."

The pink-haired kunoichi realized what she was doing, and quickly withdrew her fingers, "S-Sorry."

Sasuke responded by grabbing Sakura's wrist, and pulling her towards him closer. He kept her hand pinned down with his, as he stared deeply into her emerald eyes. "You don't get it, do you?"

"N-Nani?"

Sasuke stared at her, his eyes drawing her in. "You don't even understand the code…stupid."

Sakura was about to explode when something crashed outside. Sasuke just massaged his temples, silently wishing for peace and quiet.

"Ah! Naruto! You tripped!" Sakura exclaimed while darting outside. She helped the blond shinobi up from the pile of medical things.

'I swear I'll kill anyone from now on forth, EVER get in the way of peace,' Sasuke grumbled, clenching his fist. Naruto staggered in, and dumped something on the table.

"Sasuke-teme, guess what I got you!" Naruto exclaimed, while pointing at a card board box stacked on the table.

'…You stupid dobe. Always have to wreck peace and quiet,' Sasuke growled while frowning. "Oh joy, I can't tell," Sasuke said sarcastically.

"Oh and Sakura," Naruto said, grabbing the female medic by the shoulders and wheeled her out the door. "This is boy talk, but you'll have to be excluded, sorry!"

And he closed the door in her face before Sakura could speak up, and she could hear a click, meaning that Naruto had locked the door.

* * *

"What do you want, dobe?" Sasuke asked coldly, resting his head back on the pillows. Naruto frowned as he sat down on a chair. 

"Gosh, a friend comes and visits you, and you only growl?" Naruto pouted, while hugging himself. He sucked his thumb, while looking at the floor dejectedly, "I need a bowl of ramen as comfort food…"

"Right whatever," he growled, rolling his eyes at the stupid comment of his friend.

Naruto stared at him skeptically. "What's up with you?"

"You're lucky."

"…?"

"You're not the type of guy someone would target. I'm stuck in a stupid bed, and noise barraging me from all sides," Sasuke grumbled. "And once again, you **had** to butt in."

Naruto shook his head furiously. "Had? You talk like I did something wrong!"

"Damn straight."

"What?!"

"I don't want to share with you; unfortunately you had caught me and butt in at the WRONG TIME!" Sasuke exploded angrily. Naruto cowered for a second at the sudden raise of voice.

Sasuke sighed, and softened his tone. "Well…"

Silence.

"Sakura's a nut head," Sasuke said randomly, Naruto sweat dropped.

"Why?"

"She can't decipher my message, making it twice as hard. I wonder why she's so…stupid," Sasuke said a hint of frustration in his voice. Naruto nodded in understanding.

"Well, that's why I'm here," Naruto said adeptly, leaning back on the chair. "I'm here to give advice."

* * *

A/N: And now it has ended with a weird line Naruto give advice...hardly, yeah? But anyways...Figure out why he said 'I miss you' and I'll consider the prize. ;D 

-Dewa Mata!


	4. I DUN WANNA BE PERVERTED!

A/N: As I said before, I have all the future chapters ready. And with the right pokes, you managed to squeeze another chapter outta me. I just can't refuse questions. Thus, I'm not gonna fall for it again.

But to answer Rain: lol, Rain. You're the only one who got the closest answer. But sadly, you're wrong. Oh, so very close...

This idea, I got from sheer boredom. I told Coco tha I would make an one-shot cuz I was bored. Thus leading to this. And at first I had no idea what the title should be, so at first I began writing the second chapter. I felt like tormenting Cocowith the 'I miss you'. Oh wells, I got carried away neh? ;D

And for your guess, Blackblossom93...nope and yes.

Disclaimer: I don't owneth Naruto.

* * *

Sasuke almost snorted, as he looked at him in disbelief, "Advice? From you?"

Naruto nodded, opening up his vest pouch, and pulling out a notepad and pen, "So, I am your new therapist."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at Naruto. Expecting a stupid answer from his friend, he sardonically asked, "Who hired you?"

"My pet pork chop!"

The Uchiha stared at him in disbelief as his eyes twitched uncontrollably. Yes, this was the most stupid answer his rival could provide. Being a curious human that Sasuke was, he arched an eyebrow, and asked. "Dobe, who the heck is your pet pork chop?"

"Shikamaru."

"Why didn't you say that?" Sasuke scoffed, before turning his head to look out the window.

Naruto flipped through his page heavy full notes. He stopped at one page where it was dented with heavy pen marks. "Uchiha Sasuke, age eighteen, poisoned lying here helpless-"

"I'm not helpless."

"Who's love failed-"

"Hey."

"With the beautiful gorgeous, not to mention hot-tempered and innocent-"

"Dobe."

"-hot girl…named Haruno Sakura. Many boys-"

"You're acting like perv-"

"-are after her-"

**SLAP **

"NARUTO!" he yelled. Sasuke literally slapped his hand over Naruto's mouth. He was out of breath from trying to rebel Naruto's notes of 'truth.'

He took a deep breath to relieve his impatience. "…You are stupid. And…huh? Boys are after her?" Sasuke asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yup. Haven't you noticed how gorgeous she is? The curves, the beautiful long pink hair, the-"

"Naruto!" Sasuke said firmly, glaring at the blond-haired boy. "Don't talk about our teammate like that."

"You know you like it!" Naruto said, winking at the Uchiha prodigy. Sasuke only stared blankly at him.

"At least, I'm not that perverted like you."

"LIES! THEY'RE ALL LIES!!!" Naruto screeched.

Sasuke collapsed onto his sheets and bed cover; he covered his eyes and sighed. "What'd I give for just a moment if peace and quiet?"

"...Aha!"

Sasuke lifted his head up and looked tiredly at him, after a deep oppressing sigh. "What is it?"

"YOU JUST COMPLAINED!!!!!" Naruto exclaimed, scribbling furiously into the notebook. He murmured as he wrote, "Sasu…ke…pro…claimed…love for…Saku-"

"Shut it, dobe," Sasuke snapped angrily, before collapsing on his pillow.

* * *

Sakura glanced up at the closed door leading to Sasuke's room. Her hands were balled in a fist on her white medic outfit, and she stared nervously at the ground. 'Gee, I heard several screams inside…I hope Naruto isn't doing anything painful to my patient…'

And then an audible crash inside, which caused Sakura's head to jerk up towards the pale blue door parallel to her. It sounded like glass smashing and many things falling off the shelves inside.

What really happened inside:

"Well, Kakashi-sensei asked me to deliver this to you," Naruto said pocketing the notepad in his chunin vest. He patted the cardboard box, and walked towards door unlocking it. "Now, I will es-cah-pay!"

"Wait!" Sasuke crawled out of bed, and pointed at the worn down box. "What the hell did he give me?"

"Icha Icha Paradise Series, bye, Sasuke-" Naruto didn't have time to finish the sentence, when Sasuke's sharingan activated out of instinct. Quickly, he shifted positions from his bedside to the door.

"I DON'T WANT IT! TAKE IT BACK!!!" Sasuke snapped, leaping onto Naruto to prevent him from leaving. (A/N: Nothing perverted, kay?)

"TOO BAD!!! DEAL WITH THEM!!!" Naruto yelled, pushing the poisoned ninja off him. However the blond ninja couldn't live off the glory as Sasuke accidentally knocked over the case of Icha Icha paradise books and it spilled on them.

Taking any methods of escape, Naruto kicked Sasuke in the face…yes, literally smashed his sandals against the Uchiha's face, and leapt away in frenzy towards the window.

Naruto's hands grabbed the sliding windows, and shifted it open to its full extent. He then started to climb out and was about to jump, however Sasuke grabbed him by the ankle and yanked him back in. "Take…it…back, NARUTO!!! I DON'T WANT TO BE PERVERTED!!!" The patient pinned the flailing shinobi onto the ground with his forearm pinning Naruto's neck.

"NOO!!!" Naruto screamed, his foot kicking open the medical cabinet, causing all the things inside to tumble out. Glass jars smashed against the ground, all adding to scuffle happening inside.

**CRASH

* * *

**

Another crash. Sakura's heart began to pound, what if there was an enemy ninja inside?

Several shouts was heard but were too muffled to make out. Her emerald orbs widened each moment as another sound contribute to the noise inside, as another noise made clear.

'Sasuke's inside…with Naruto…' Sakura got onto her feet. 'Remind me to kill Naruto later…'

And then Sakura boldly dashed in, prepared to see the worst.

* * *

During his flailing, somehow Naruto wiggled out. Sasuke grumbled to himself for letting the dobe get the best of him.

Naruto hopped on top of the table and kicked it towards Sasuke hoping that it might distract him. It seemed to work as first, as it flew towards him. However, he easily dodged it, and was about to clobber his teammate with a few books he gathered from a nearby table.

The medic ran in, but only crashed into Sasuke, as he was about to fight Naruto once more. Everything, including Naruto, froze as Sakura looked up and took a quick sweep of the room.

"Naruto!" Sakura cried, as she saw everything inside. They were standing on glass shards, mind you Sasuke's feet were bleeding; the bed covers were messed up; books were strewn all over the floor, and upon reading the title she got angrier at Naruto, knowing that he was already a perv; the lamps and vases were lying in the floor, either broken or half-broken; and a tattered big cardboard box.

'Oh no! I must es-ca-pay!' Naruto thought in panic. He glanced at Sasuke and Sakura, not to mention caught sight of the very…tempting…open cabinet doors…

Quickly, Naruto pushed both of them inside while yelling a quick 'Gomenasai! Don't kill me.'

He then slammed the door and with a swift movement of his wrist, flicked the lock switch.

**Click

* * *

**

**A/N: They get locked in closet! Life is good isn't it? Btw, this is probably the end of all the happiness. The dark chapters are coming, beware of drama. OO Anyways, since I gave a hint to my friend Coco about what would happen in the future chapters, I'll give you it: **

**'Stake'**

-Dewa Mata!


	5. Stuck

A/N: And I come here again with another installment to Hidden Codes! D Yes, I only decided to update because I just felt like it. Okay, well, the angsty and blah blah is coming in the next chapter, so excuse the fast pace happening there. Yeah. Nuff said.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

Sakura absorbed everything that happened. Of course, she was pushed rudely inside of the closet. The nerve of Naruto, she really had to kill him later. She tried shifting around to pound on the door for help.

She felt something else pushing her against the wall. 'Ow, what the hell? Why are there cushions in here?'

And then…something breathed onto her face, something…very close to her right eye. Soon she felt something pressed on it, something warm. Sakura froze, her left eye staring into the blackness. 'The assaulter's in here…I hope Sasuke's alright…'

* * *

'Damn Naruto, he had to shove me into this stuffy closet…' Sasuke grumbled to himself, while staying completely still. Before he could throw another mental cuss at his rival, something fidgeted next to him.

'…?'

Sasuke inhaled through his nose, only the scent of herbal went in, and exhaled it. The thing next to him moved slightly, that his lips met with something soft…flesh-like.

"…Sakura?" he asked after removing his lip from where he though was her forehead. He was taking a chance of being embarrassed if it was even Naruto.

He felt something slap his cheek gently. "Sasuke?"

"What are you doing here?" they both queried.

Silence…it was burdening them both.

"Well, Naruto pushed me in," Sakura truthfully said, blushing madly that she was that close to Sasuke.

"Same here."

"He did?! I thought he only pushed me!"

"Hn."

"…"

"Let's focus on getting out," Sasuke suggested. Truthfully, this area was probably the area where he could escape noise, but he had Sakura in there with him. Silence filled the small space as he heard Sakura probe for an inner doorknob.

Sasuke turned stiff, when Sakura touched his chest while looking for the handle on his side.

"Maybe behind me…" Sakura muttered to herself; she directed both her arms behind her body, tapping all the walls. Sakura finally sighed. "No use, Sasuke. There's none."

"…"

Sakura wiggled her hands, where it was stuck in a corner with her body acting as a weight or closing. "Ah shoot. I can't move my hands."

"Darnit. Sasuke can you help me get the weapons here?" Sakura finally asked, after moving her hand.

Sasuke frowned, as he slightly kicked the wall behind him. He leaned slightly forward, his hands supporting him on the opposing side. Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the darkness, faintly he could make out the outlines of Sakura's medic uniform.

"Sakura…"

"Yes-" As soon as she replied, Sasuke leaned down, his head gently resting on her shoulder.

* * *

Sakura felt Sasuke's head on her shoulder, and his arms wrapped around her small body loosely. "Sakura…" he spoke again.

"Huh?"

"How are we supposed to get out of here?"

"Well, I was looking for a weapon so we could break out of here… but this is a medical closet so you wouldn't find any weapons in here."

Sasuke sighed, his arms still around her body and his head resting gently on her left shoulder. "I'm assuming we'll be stuck here for a while." 'Damn, it's getting cramped here…'

"Actually," the Haruno began. "I almost forgot! I have my weapon pouch with me. Can you find it and pull out a kunai, Sasuke?"

"Sure. Where is it?"

"It's on my right thigh."

Sasuke finally let go of his embrace around the petite girl, and lifted his head up to begin scavenging for her kunai pouch. His hands began to pat around her back- it was still difficult for him to see in such darkness.

"Sasuke, that's my back." Sakura informed her friend.

"Oh."

He continued to feel around for her thigh, and he assumed that his hands should move down more. They moved onto her tailbone, only to get the same response from Sakura. Sasuke's hands moved down a little more…

"…S-Sasuke!" the Haruno suddenly exclaimed.

His hands stopped, a confused expression pasted on his face. "Yeah?"

"That's my… that's… er, g-go lower, that's not my thigh…"

Sasuke blinked a bit. "Oh, okay."

Sakura stood there, her hands still stuck in the corner. Her heart stopped, and she could have sworn that her face turned ten shades darker. 'His hands... his hands were on my /butt/!'

Sasuke continued to pat around, feeling for her thigh. He squatted, and felt his hands separate, touching two separate body parts.

"T-There!" Sakura spluttered, still embarrassed from before. "I think y-your right hand's o-on it."

Sasuke moved his left hand over to her right thigh. He began feeling for the wraps that held her weapon pouch onto her leg. His hands began moving down, but they stopped when they met her sandals. Not feeling any pouch of some sort, his hands began moving upward.

As they moved upward, Sakura shivered. It felt weird, having Sasuke feeling her and touching her in the way he did. But she felt his hands stop at her bandages.

"Is this it?" he asked, his right hand landing on what he thought was a pouch.

"I-I think so…"

Sasuke felt around the pouch for a button to snap it open. When he found it, he pulled her weapon pouch open and pulled out a kunai.

"Ah, so I'll have to break the lock," Sasuke muttered to himself, readying the knife in his right hand. The Uchiha narrowed his eyes in the dark, trying to make out some form of doorknob or lock. "Sakura, can you spare some chakra?"

"Why?" the Haruno girl replied, looking at where she thought was Sasuke's face.

"I need to see where the lock is…"

Sakura nodded, concentrating; green chakra started flowing rapidly towards her hands emitting a soft pale green glow.

"Enough light?" Sakura asked, staring at Sasuke's face, as he scanned his eyes over the walls with only the dim illumination.

Wielding the kunai carefully, he made sure he didn't harm his teammate while searching for any peculiar looking metal piece stuck to the sides of the door.

Sasuke narrowed his onyx eyes, scanning every possible surface that was being shone by the chakra.

"…Sasuke, can you hurry? Chakra's draining here…" Sakura said a bit impatiently. Sasuke just grunted as he tried to see the walls outside of the dim light. After several seconds of abusing his eyes, he immediately shot it close due to the strain.

After that, the orb of light eventually died down, until only green was visible at her finger tips.

"Can you be a bit hastier? It's hard to channel healing chakra if there's nothing to heal," the medic lectured, oblivious to the current situation at hand. Sasuke stayed silent, his fingertips sliding down from the wood.

"Stuck."

"Nani?"

"We're stuck…"

* * *

A/N: Also, if anybody is considerate enough to read the author notes, I thank you for wasting a minute of your life reading my pitiful whims. But anyhoo, thank you again for reading, and please leave a reveiw. ; Would appreciate it, and that'll quicken the pace. ;P

-Dewa Mata!


	6. OMG! Perverted mind takes its toll!

A/N: ANOTHER ONE! OMG. I STARTED FROM SCRATCH! But anyways, this chapter can or could be a filler, since I noticed that my previous one had ABSOLUTELY **NO** reactions from Sasuke and we all know he's perverted. So I made a new one. Excuse the junk perverted stuff, I'm new with writing it. XF

Disclaimer: I own nuthin.

* * *

"WHAT?! AREN'T YOU THE GENIUS?!" Sakura whined, throwing a nasty tantrum. She could hear Sasuke growl nearby in her ear. 

"Shut up, Sakura."

"How the hell could I shut up, if we're stuck in the friggen closet?!" Sakura spat back. The Uchiha didn't answer but remained silent, his mind quite occupied now.

He felt strange. Probably it was their distance between one another, heck it wasn't a distance…they were touching. Sasuke felt his stomach lurch as Sakura attempted to get out of their position, no big deal, yeah? Well if it included Sakura unknowingly rubbing herself against him, well that would rub him off the wrong way…

Especially.

If.

He's.

Perverted.

Sasuke shook his head mentally, he's not perverted…not like that toad sage and especially not like Naruto. The prodigy had to admit that it felt good…and he never experienced any rushing uncontrollable feeling.

What's that thing Kakashi always called it?

Hormones. How much does Sasuke loathe it, his hands felt like 'feeling' Sakura's small frame. Sasuke's body desired the feel of her skin against his hand, but his mind wouldn't allow it. But that wasn't a bad idea, now was it? He had to resist the urge to caress her face which was probably at the moment scrunched up in determination.

Amidst of the body-mind chaos, Sasuke remembered something that Itachi once said:

_Little brother, love is stupid, period. NEVER fall for someone, and if you manage to pass through your years of a teen and if you manage to defeat puberty. Then that will be added to your achievements. Of course, I never fell for anybody, and it is right that you don't either. IF you sexually abuse a lady, then that girl must be killed before anyone knows what you're doing. Love is painful…it's extremely useless. You're a foolish brother, I know you will do something…don't read those perverted books…it will taint your mind greatly._

'Why…why me? Why…Sakura?' Sasuke thought uncomfortably, as he inhaled her herbal scent. 'Dammit Itachi for not telling me sooner…did he seriously have to mail it to me yesterday?'

"Sasuke?"

"U-Uh, yeah?"

He gulped. He noticed her lips were so close to his, the Uchiha could just kiss her and get away with it without being mauled. However…sometimes, you have to hate the prodigy for his lack of guts.

"Are you feeling okay?"

"Yeah. Perfectly fine," Sasuke mumbled, feeling sweat drip down his forehead.

"Just wondering," she ended, as her hot breath cascaded down his neck. Why did Jiraiya give him those books meant for teens? Even so, it placed mental images in his mind…which he was **_dying_** to try out because of his hormones.

Sasuke was unsure of himself at that moment. There were pros and cons, each being his mind and body.

His body tells him: She's a beatiful girl, just WAITING to be touched...

His mind: Keep sane, Sasuke, sane. ...BE SANE DAMMIT!!!

Sasuke thought he had to be in the mental institute. Oh wait, he already been there. No point of going back then, if he's going to risk having a grape flavored lollipop stuck down his throat. And it had to be grape. Just because it was a dark color doesn't meant that it was emo...and he liked emo stuff. But anyways, that was his other story...back to the main one.

A thought appeared in his head, the writings of the Icha Icha books were so graphic it was like watching a movie. He remembered a certain scene and pictured himself and Sakura in it. Sasuke could be kissing her passionately, leaving a trail of kisses down her neck, rip apart the white collar, and go further down as she moans.

His mind winced, his body cheered. It was scarring, but was rather...filling.

Sasuke cursed, trying to rid himself of perverted thoughts. 'I am but an angel.' He paused and rolled his eyes. 'Right an angel...'

Another scene where he imagined them on a bed. Sasuke was having his fill whilst kissing or rather **licking **her skin, and part of her clothes ripped off revealing her-

Sasuke choked, reminding himself to commit suicide if thoughts like these start coming again. He wanted to die **now**, but he was only in a closet. And how was he suppose to commit suicide? Smash his head into the wall until he bled to death?

The Uchiha's face was red with the fantasy _porn_. Why must this be him? Jiraiya must die a thosand of deaths...

"I can't-...no. Not me," Sasuke mumbled to himself, thinking happy thoughts to rid the mind of perverse scenes. He thought of bunnies being struck in the head with a kunai, a flower stomped upon-...then the scenes distorted into things hardly imaginable: Sakura wearing almost nothing on herself, while she seduces the prodigy with her body. She laced her hands around his neck and was about to kiss him-

Uchiha Sasuke...must crack now. "Oh my **fuckin** god."

"Excuse me?" Sakura intervened. He swallowed nervously, and shut his eyes trying to resist doing anything to the girl. He tried his best masking his stutturing voice with his usual stoic one, but it only came out into a hoarse whisper.

"Nothing."

"You sound like you're having a mental breakdown."

'Yes, I have a mental breakdown. I can't take this anymore! Perverted stuff-' Sasuke thought dramatically. 'BEGONE!'

However the perverse scenes did not disappear, it drilled itself into his head, so that it would pop up any time whenever he doesn't want it to. Uchiha was sweating heavily, as the scenes gave him a strange feeling in his stomach.

Something started to surge through his left shoulder, stemming from his neck. His thinking paused as the pain started to carry down throughout his body. He thought it was part of puberty, but was very wrong.

For a moment he felt paralyzed, and sent more sweat dripping from his forehead. Pain...it engulfed him entirely, but he could care less because there were sick images running through his mind.

"Uh…are you feeling alright? You're perspiring…"

Sasuke managed to speak in a few gasps. "It's…a crowded place. Of course…I'd be sweating…"

Sakura's questions paused a bit, as the prodigy tried his hardest to not make his sudden pain visible. "But…Sasuke, you sound uncomfortable."

Did he now? Sasuke wondered sarcastically. Well despite having some girl in his reach, having a mental breakdown, not to mention his perverse mind plus the scenes and the darn pain that's paralyzing his whole body…he's fine.

Keyword: **_Fine_**

"Sasuke? Are you alright? C'mon answer-"

"Try being quiet please…" the Uchiha muttered dazedly. Then it grew worse, not only numbing his body, the pain made way to his head spreading like a wildfire. It blossomed into a singeing feeling before wholly taking control of his mind. The pulsing of the hurt kept pounding in his head and it consumed his consciousness.

The Haruno immediately closed her mouth into a pout. Silence. It dawned upon the shinobi and kunoichi.

"…This…sucks," Sakura muttered. "I wish someone would open the door…"

No answer, no grunt, not even Sasuke's famous 'hn' was heard. The pink-haired girl gave it several seconds for him to reply. "Hey…Sasuke?"

None. And then something wet rolled down her shoulder, making her shudder. Before she could wholly decipher what had happened…

**Conk**

Sasuke's head had just rolled down her shoulders, and was now resting at the edge of it against the wall. A grim face appeared on her features, as a worried frown planted itself on her lips. 'I knew it, something's wrong with him…'

Sakura slowly inhaled, calming her rising nerves. She intently listened to the sound of piercing silence, hoping that any sound would indicate something. However, one thing had caught her ear. And that sparked a small flame of hope in Sakura's heart.

* * *

A/N: That's a wrap! Eh, I wonder if this is a cliffe or not...but anyhoo thank you for reading. And those who read and don't reveiw:

**YOUR REVEIWS DO NOT FALL UNNOTICED BY ME! IF IT WOULD MAKE YOU FEEL BETTER, THEN I WILL COMMENT THOSE WHO I THINK NEED AN ANSWER! SO LEAVE A REVEIW!!! **

I beg of thee, there is not a 'submit a reveiw' button down there for nuthin', so just waste a few seconds of your life submitting a reveiw, and you'll make someone smile.

It's nearing the dark chapters, mah friends. So the cloud won't lift till after. The beginning of the dark chapters starts in the next one: Chapter 7!

**_Sneak Peek:_**

Then something cold and lumpy appeared underneath her finger tips. 'Ah!' Sakura's heart skipped a beat. She readied the weapon in her hands, and proceeded to strike the point where she thought was the inner lock.

As suspected what greeted her as she struck was…

'CLANG'

But the lock didn't budge…

'Damn, I have to get out of here quick,' Sakura thought, aiming at the lock again and again. One thought nailed in her mind: 'Sasuke…needs help!'

**--**

OMG, Sakura found the lock...but what is this? It's not moving? What's with Sasuke? Why does he need help? Why is Sakura so distressed?

Oh my gosh! I know all the answers to these questions, and what the hell is wrong with me and my updating?! All the questions will be answered in the next chapter! Stay tuned!!!

-Dewa Mata!


	7. Too late

A/N: And I present chapter seven...c'mon. Did I scare reveiwers that last chapter? **I WANT REVEIWS!!!** Yes, fill my request. This is something sort like a filler, but I don't know if this is really important or the opposite of that. So yeah. ALSO, this is the dark chapters...there will be a limited amount of humor since it's dark.

So...bear with this time, because it'll be a one...large...step...for SASUSAKU-NESS!!

Disclaimer: I own nuthin

**

* * *

K-chak **

"Sasuke-san, it's time for your medic…ine…" the usual cheery enthusiastic face dropped when the nurse opened the door to an empty room. She dropped everything she was holding as panic claimed her heart.

The nurse stepped over the strewn objects, looking at the lump at the bed. "…What happened here? It's a…mess…"

"Sasuke-san?" the nurse cried, looking at the crumpled object on the bed. Further examination told the nurse that it was just crinkled sheets.

The woman cried out his name again, her voice wobbling with panic, searching everywhere for any signs of the patient underneath the trashed room. "Omigosh! If he doesn't take it…," the woman paused, and ran out the door, screaming. "DOCTOR!!! SASUKE-SAN IS GONE!!!"

* * *

'Oh…shit,' Sakura thought, struck with fear and instant realization. Sweat started trickling down her forehead rapidly. 'I forgot! I need to get him out of here…quick!' 

She faintly remembered that Sasuke still had the kunai in his hand, and if she could find out where the lock was… 'No. It's too hard to move. I need to get my hands out, to be able to get the lock…'

Sakura attempted to break her hands free from its painful immobile position; however Sasuke's weight was too great to match.

'If I could push…us off unto the other…end…and…' Sakura smacked herself mentally for not realizing it earlier. She shifted her body slightly, even though her small hands were smashing against the wall.

Being prudent, the medic shifted her weight unto her teammate; however the ending result wasn't what she was looking towards.

**THUD **

'Ow…' Sakura thought, her head resting against the wall. Something was underneath her, and she was positive that Sasuke's legs gave way, ending with them on the floor.

Seeing a chance, Sakura struggled to get up, despite the small space her feet had. The medic ninja grabbed a kunai from her weapon pouch, and quickly ran her fingers over the closed closet's inner walls.

Then something cold and lumpy appeared underneath her finger tips. 'Ah!' Sakura's heart skipped a beat. She readied the weapon in her hands, and proceeded to strike the point where she thought was the inner lock.

As suspected what greeted her as she struck was…

'CLANG'

But the lock didn't budge…

'Damn, I have to get out of here quick,' Sakura thought, aiming at the lock again and again. One thought nailed in her mind: 'Sasuke…needs help!'

'No, it won't work…' Sakura thought desperately, sweat trickling down her forehead. Gently pumping chakra to her hands, Sakura was able to illuminate part of Sasuke's face.

His face was flushed, as a face of discomfort was plastered on. Shakily, she rested her hand on his forehead, but withdrew as she realized that it was burning high. The Haruno's face was started to pale, her emerald orbs widening.

"Sasuke…" she muttered worriedly. Shutting her eyes tight, moisture started to sting the corners. "Please be alright…"

Everything was going haywire, for once the Haruno felt unneeded. The situation was too out of her hands; Sasuke could die if she didn't do anything about it. How useless.

Just useless…

'I've always thought I could help him,' Sakura thought, her breath catching short. 'I tried to be useful, but why does it always have to be in the most critical times when I can't do anything?'

Her head lowered, her fingertips still illuminating her teammate's face. She dragged her fingers across his cheek, and whispered quietly, "I'm sorry…Sasuke…sorry…"

* * *

**BAM**

"SASUKE'S GONE?!" the doctor roared, stomping into the empty yet trashed hospital room. "THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!!!"

Someone pushed the doctor aside, an outraged face painted on her beautiful features…well it's not beautiful now, and it was far from pretty-ful. "Where's Sasuke?! How about Sakura?! She's supposed to take care of him!"

"T-Tsunade-sama…" the nurse squeaked, as the Godaime swept her eyes across the room. "…Sasuke-san isn't here, he's out."

The Godaime was shocked looking at the mess. Strewn bed, glass shards, table overturned, objects laying around in a disorder. It can only mean…one thing.

Tsunade slapped her forehead, "This is stupid! Why the hell would Sasuke just run out?! It's either **_THAT_** or someone abducted him!"

She turned swiftly around, arms folded across her chest. Tsunade barked at everyone, her eyes gleaming dangerously. "Everyone! Search for him! Send all shinobi out! I'm sure that since without his medicine he wouldn't be that far!!!"

Everyone gave a nod and dispersed as they ran out of the room; some nurses gave an emergency call to the main office, where most of the ninjas were located. Tsunade frowned as she took a last look around, trying to locate any peculiar looking object.

* * *

'Tsunade-sensei!!!' Sakura gasped, the tears still lingering around her eyes. She stood up with difficulty but managed to get a hold on the wall. As she blinked, several droplets of tears rolled down her face, blurring her sight. 

Sakura quickly wiped her tears and continued to bang on the door.

"T-Tsunade-sensei!!!" the medic cried, rapping on the door with her fists. "Tsunade-sensei!!! Please hear me!!!"

* * *

_'Tsunade-sensei!'_

Said person stopped in her tracks. Her eyes widened as she heard the closet door consecutively sound. The blond woman paced quickly to the closet door, and placed a hand on the lock.

The banging had stopped, and curiously the Hokage twisted the lock and opened the door. Surprise was etched onto her face, as something fell to the floor. "Sa…kura?!"

The grateful girl tumbled onto the floor, perspiration dripping from her head. She propped herself up with her hand, as her medical teacher stared at her. "Sas…Sasuke…"

With that name, Tsunade's attention snapped back towards the person lying unmoved in the closet. "Sasuke?!"

Sakura got a glimpse of him, as she quickly stood up. 'Oh no…I'm too late…'

"Sakura, explain this!" Tsunade demanded, flustered that she sent out most of shinobi during her panic. She helped Sakura carry the fallen teammate to his bed. The blond haired woman looked at the sprawling dots climbing over his skin.

"He…" Sakura began, pulling the covers over his body. Then something clicked in her head, as she recalled the facts of what she had researched. Turning abruptly to Tsunade, she exclaimed. "…Needs medical attention now!!!"

That struck Tsunade like a ton of bricks in concrete...

* * *

A/N: Okay, so we all know Sasuke's dead. D 

No, I was just lying, don't listen to me. So...I'm growing old...TT Kidding once more. I'm getting accustomed to applying a chapter preveiw. As of now, I'm writing chapter 9, so plenty of time.

Also I think this is so rushed...oo;

**_Sneak Peek:_**

"Huh. Like that'll happen. You know what, Sakura is **mines**, you've hurt her enough…I can't stand her getting more sad."

"You've never cared for her."

"That can be said to you as well. Don't touch Sakura," he retorted. "All would be better if you were-" the shinobi swung a kunai from his weapon pouch and swiftly pinned the Uchiha to the wall, the blade lying on Sasuke's neck. "**Dead**."

--

Oh yah, this is at teh end of the chapter, so I'm just letting you look at the cliffe. You can figure out who's the he. Not like it's that hard. :P

-Dewa Mata!


	8. Encounter with Sai

A/N: OMG! I finally decide to update this. I'm so happy...someone decides to reveiw some chapters. TT Btw, what happened to the reveiwers? WHY?! WHY AM I LEFT WITH ONE SURVIVOR! DID I SCARE THEM AWAY?! O.O Possibly, yes. 

But anyways just a bit serious at the end. Hate the pace as well. :P

Disclaimer: I own nuthin.

* * *

"Sakura-san, we're done," a doctor muttered walking out of the room. Several others followed him out and dispersed into their own ways. "We did what we could, unfortunately..."

"What is it, Shiro?" Sakura interrupted impatiently. She stared at him for a while until he sighed, continuing his sentence.

"Unfortunately...he'll be in that condition until the marks disappear," Shiro muttered, pushing up his glasses. He excused himself, and walked away as Sakura ran into her patient's room.

Lying on the bed was her teammate with an oxygen mask. Sakura could barely recognize the Uchiha. Strange black marks were strewn all over his body, as the flame-like marks were emitting a strange red aura.

"Sasuke…" Sakura muttered as her eyes started to sting. She sniffed, as she let the tears roll down. 'My fault…it's my fault that you're in this condition…if only…I was experienced in that field…you wouldn't have to be like this…'

"Why am I so useless when Sasuke needs me the most?"

* * *

"So, he's in a coma?" Sakura questioned Shiro, while he jotted down something on the clipboard. He lowered the clipboard to meet Sakura's inquiring gaze.

"Yes. The curse mark's reacting to the poison, not even the containment seal could keep this in," he informed, placing down the clipboard and pen. "Right now, he's unconscious; I'm not sure when he'll wake up…if he does, we won't know what will happen."

"Alright…thanks," Sakura said quietly, as the doctor shuffled away. The medic sat in the seat before the bed, staring into space.

**Knock, knock**

She continued staring at the ground, not noticing that someone invited himself in. The person closed the door silently, and walked up behind Sakura.

"Sakura…what happened to him?" the voice queried, only then did Sakura return back to her senses.

"Oh, Sai!" she said quite cheerfully, a small tint of red on her face. "Well, you see…Sasuke got poisoned…the marks appeared…now he's in a coma…and…"

"Sakura…what is it?" he asked gently, knowing the troubled face beneath her smile. The Haruno didn't say anything for a while as her face dropped. Her emerald eyes lowered to the ground.

Tears started to drop onto her clenched fists. "…it's my fault…it's my fault that I couldn't prevent it…"

Sakura covered her face with her hands and sobbed silently. The teenager looked at her pitifully, and pulled up a chair near her. He draped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her close to him. "Don't blame it on yourself, Sakura," the shinobi comforted. "I'm sure Sasuke will pull through."

Sai exhaled a breath as he laid his chin on top of hers; he glanced at Sasuke lying still on the hospital bed, observing the glowing red aura outlining the black marks.

"Don't blame yourself," he murmured again, lowering his eyes from the bed. Something was hidden in his eyes. "Just…don't."

_--five days later…_

"Sai…I'm sorry about dragging you off earlier…" Sakura admitted bashfully, pink tainting her cheeks. She clenched her fists on her white medic uniform, as Sai walked beside her.

"Nah, no problem," he said, a perfect smile on his face. She blushed even more. Sakura avoided looking into his onyx eyes.

"W-Well…I h-have to go see…Sasuke," the medic stammered, then without a pause she briskly walked into the Uchiha's room.

**Slam**

'Funny how Sai makes me feel,' Sakura thought uneasily. She slowly took in a breath and exhaled it, looking up at the lying figure beneath the sheets.

Still in that condition. Sakura heaved a sigh; she couldn't help but feel responsible for his unconsciousness. He's been that way for five days already, not a sign of consciousness.

The girl dug her hand into the pocket located near her right thigh; she grasped the note paper that Sasuke handed her and took it out.

The numbers…every morning and night, any spare time she could get, she tried to decode it. The numbers were the mystery itself but what was behind the 'I miss you' thing…was really a mystery.

Sakura sighed, as she slowly walked towards him. Ever since he's been unconscious, Sai was the only one there for her, Naruto recently has been whisked away for a mission, and the others were too occupied.

She stared at him, his chest slowly rising and falling. "Sasuke…can't you wake up now?" Sakura sat on a chair and rested her head on the edge of the bed. "You have to tell me about the numbers…"

"Eh, Sakura…" a voice suddenly whispered. She jolted upwards, as she glanced at the patient…however her hopes dimmed as she realized he was silent. "Sakura…is it alright if I come in? I had free time, so I thought I might as well keep you company."

"S-Sai," she stuttered, whisking around. "S-Sure."

The Fubuki pulled a chair from under the table. He sat down, his eyes not once off the Uchiha. "Sakura…how's Sasuke doing?"

"Well," Sakura impatiently brushed a stray pink hair behind her ear. "…he's making a slow recovery, but the curse marks are still there."

"Aa…I see."

"Thanks for your concern, Sai…"

"You seem worried about Sasuke," the raven-haired boy cooed. He looked at her reddening face curiously. "Anything about him you'd like to share?"

"Uhm, this piece of paper…" She handed the crumpled note to Sai.

Sai's face dropped as he stared at the numbers. "This…"

Sakura's face lit up, "You know what it is?"

"Er…I honestly don't know," he smiled, pocketing it in his beige pouch. "You should forget this lousy thing."

"S-Sai…" she tried to object, but his onyx eyes were too…overwhelming.

"Just forget about it, alright?" he repeated softly. "Oh…aren't you supposed to meet with Tsunade-sama?"

"AH! I totally forgot!" Sakura exclaimed standing up quickly. "Sorry, Sai but can you watch Sasuke? Thanks!"

Her footsteps speeding down the halls began to fade, and Sai standing near the doorway, closed it…and locked it.

Facing towards Sasuke, his eyes completely changed to one that was emotionless. "Uchiha…quit your act, you're awake…I know it."

The Uchiha's eyes flickered open, his onyx eyes staring straight at the ceiling. "How long have you known?"

"Since this morning."

"Observant…very observant," Sasuke croaked.

Silence filled the room.

"Well…seems like Sakura likes you," the teenager started.

"…that'll never happen."

"Why's that? Is the reason…me?" he asked testily. Sasuke struggled to sit up from his position; he wobbled a bit but managed. The curse marks were still visible on his left limbs and the left half of his face.

"Possibly," he mumbled, ripping off the oxygen mask. Sai noted it, and raised his eyebrow curiously.

"What are you trying to achieve, Uchiha? You're still weak in that condition."

"Trying to find…Sakura." He staggered onto his feet and proceeded to walk towards the door. Sasuke gasped weakly through his mouth, he stopped midway and took short breaths.

Sai leaned against the doorway, blocking the Uchiha from the door. "I'm sorry, but she's too busy to attend you now."

"S-Stupid, she…cares."

Sai's face turned into a smug look. "I bet she cares more about me, then you."

The weak eighteen year old shook his head, his blue-black bangs covering most of his face. "No, she doesn't, she'll stay by my side…w-whatever happens…she will."

"Huh. Like that'll happen. You know what, Sakura is **mines**, you've hurt her enough…I can't stand her getting more sad."

"You've never cared for her."

"That can be said to you as well. Don't touch Sakura," he retorted. "All would be better if you were-" the shinobi swung a kunai from his weapon pouch and swiftly pinned the Uchiha to the wall, the blade lying on Sasuke's neck. "**Dead**."

* * *

A/N: Gasp. It's Sai. Bad, bad Sai. Quite an overprotective dude yes? So this story as a thing for Sai hating Sasuke, just cus of Sakura...I swear! Sai ain't cheating on her...or is he?

**_Sneak peek:_**

"We'll see…who she loves more."

"We all know, she loves me more," Sai hissed. Sasuke just shook his head slowly.

He brought his eyes up to Sai, it being blood red in determination. The marks on his left side started to glow eerily, as a strange look of blood lust was etched on his face. "We'll see," he muttered. "Just watch."

--

Oh noes. Something's gonna happen. I SWEAR I COULDN'T RESIST HAVING A BIT OF FUNNY PARTS!!! Naruto just eases everything.

Also. REVEIW PLEASE!!! I BEG OF YOU! REVEIWS MAKE ME UPDATE FASTER!!! T-T

Nya EDIT: You know, I'm very ignorant that I forgot Sai didn't have a last name. SO I'M COMPLETELY DESTROYING ALL THE 'FUBUKI' THING. And where I got Fubuki was from Koko Roco, jus cus that was the first fic that included Sai I read. 

-Dewa Mata!


	9. It's bath time, Sasuke!

A/N: Okay, I'm feeling a lot bored today. So I'm gonna like...post chapter nine. ;D Okay to clear things up with ya: 

**_NUTHIN IS GONNA BE ALL DARK AND ANGSTY!!!!11211!_**

And the reason why: I'm a hypocrite. .. Yes, I admit it. I am a hypocrite, so what I say...don't entirely believe me. o.O

Egad, only now I remember to give credit. xF Well I thank **Koko Roco **for helping me write Chapter 5. THANK YOU!!! Memory slips my mind. -gets shot-

Now, I decide to answer reveiws.

**Literate:** ...-eyes start shining- YOU SUCK!!! DIDN'T I SAY TO GO AWAY?! OUTTA HERE! GET! GET! SHOO! ...Yeah, I agree. It's be funnier if Sasuke died. -laughs-...I was kidding...

-sees people run- NOO! I WAS LYING! KAY? LYING!!! Sasuke **won't** die. :P

Ay, didn't I tell you to keep comments to yourself?

**Little Cherry Blossom:** Wow, long and complicated name...no offense.I just can't do the captilization and stuff. :F But to answer your reveiw. Sasuke's not dead. And my mouth is closed about who Sakura likes better. ITSA SEALED!

**Kunoichi142**: -tosses chocolate bar- Thanks for reveiwing! Neh, it won't be the stupid cheesy kind of thing like:

'I LOVE YOU!'

'MARRY ME!'

'HELL NO!' -smacks- 'YOU STINK AND YOU SCARE ME!'

Audience: o.0

**-strictly ext only-:** Hurray! Someone found out the easy code! Well...a lot of people actually. We all know that Sasuke loves her. lol.

**Hidden-Tigress88**: Nah, he won't die. Just get painfully stabbed. :D

**Lute12**: Yeah, yeah. I have to work my lazy brain to think of another challenging code. xD Wow, an hour. Nice to have to reveiw.

**kattylin:** lol, thanks for being patient to send reveiws in.

**Koko Roco:** lol, don't worry, she'll be like...somewhere between Sai and Sasuke. I'll try no to put much cliffhangers. :D

And to everyone...reveiwers and readers: **THANKS FOR BEING WITH ME THROUGH THE WHOLE NINE CHAPTERS! I THANK YOU FOR YOUR REVEIWS AND YOUR PATIENCE FOR READING THIS!**

Disclaimer: I own nuthin.

* * *

"N-No," he gasped, his eyes filling with pain. Sasuke winced as Sai slid the tip of the blade across his neck, "I-I need S-Sakura…"

"Oh do you…I can just kill you right now, and nobody would even expect that it was me…" Sai breathed dangerously, he gave a sneaky smirk. "I tried killing you, but really…Sakura just had to come in."

Sasuke's eyes widened, as he gripped Sai's arm tightly to keep from suffocation, "Y-You're…the one w-who-" he was cut off with a groan of pain.

Sai's pair of eyes turned more sinister and blood thirsty. He stabbed Sasuke in the upper arm, resulting a shout of pain from Sasuke, "Yes, **I **shot you with the poison dart; it was perfect, all too irreconcilable with your cursed seal."

"S-Sai," Sasuke groaned, whilst the kunai dug deeper into his skin. Dark red blossomed around the blade, staining his sleeve. "D-Don't do…this…"

However his ears did not receive what the weak eighteen year old said. Sai gripped the kunai handle tightly, and began twisting it slowly deeper into the Uchiha's arm. "**I **comforted Sakura, not you. She's **mine**…lay off or I swear I'll kill you."

"W-Why…k-kill me…?" Sasuke asked weakly, although his eyes burned with determination and hatred. Sweat rolled down his forehead, he gripped the blade and attempted to remove it, but Sai kept it in place.

"…you're an impediment to my goal," the Fubuki smirked. "Weak…little Uchiha. You can't do anything now."

Sasuke had a stubborn smirk plastered on his face, despite the pain his body was enduring. He whispered, "A bet. L-Let's…have a bet."

"Hm, go on."

"We'll see…she loves more."

"We all know, she loves me more," Sai hissed. Sasuke just shook his head slowly.

He brought his eyes up to Sai, it being blood red in determination. The marks on his left side started to glow eerily, as a strange look of blood lust was etched on his face. "We'll see," he muttered. "Just watch."

Sai glared into the sharingan eyes of the Uchiha, and then he turned his head sideways. "Don't speak of what happened, the game's on," Sai muttered, before disappearing.

Sasuke inhaled deeply and slid down onto to the ground, blood splattered where his arm was located. Shakily he reached for the weapon which was piercing through his muscles. He tried to pull the weaponry from his arm, but no strength came pulsing through his hand.

**Click**

The door opened, and it was just the right person…that he wanted to see. "Sa…Sakura…" he breathed out in pain, although he was really grateful that she walked in on time.

Said person ran over towards him and looked at the pitiful figure before bracing him in a hug. "Sasuke, you're awake!"

He fought the urge to yelp as the weapon was pushed deeper in to his arm. Sakura pulled herself back and then noticed the red splotch located on his arm, a weapon handle visible against the cloth.

"Who did this to you?" she asked worriedly, already preparing to heal him. As chakra transported into the wound, she slowly pulled it out, the blade layered with streaks of blood.

"Someone…an enemy tried killing me," he muttered, as the pain started to ease. His head was hung down low, reminiscing of what Sai had said earlier.

The slit where the kunai sunk in started to weave with the help of the chakra, and soon there was nothing left but a blood stain on his pajamas.

"What?!" she cried, her eyebrows furrowed in anger and a mix of worry. Abruptly standing up, she yelled, "I'll get Tsunade-sensei to put securi-"

Before she dashed anywhere, a strong arm braced itself around her waist pulling her down into his lap. She stiffened, as his head rested on her right shoulder. "Don't leave."

Sakura blushed madly, while his arm was still firmly around her waist. His shallow breathing brushed past her ear, as she froze in a sitting position."Sasuke are you…feeling okay?"

He only grunted, pulling her closer, this alarmed the medic and her eyes widened. The Uchiha buried his head into Sakura's pink hair as a thought floated into his mind, 'I…have to do something about…Sai.'

"Sakura…"

"Yes, Sasuke?"

He inhaled slowly, choosing the correct words. "Sai…"

Sakura turned slightly so she could see his facial expression. She was confused by what she saw: hurt, fear, pain, doubt, and sadness were graced on his pale face. Never did the Uchiha show that much emotions, something was definitly wrong with him. Sakura placed her small hand over his calloused ones, and the comforting warmth spread throughout his body.

"What is it?"

"Do you-…what do you…like about him?" Sasuke asked, his eyes still cast on the floor.

The question itself stung Sakura, as he looked up at her questionably. "I…well, he's nice," she began, twiddling her fingers, a bright pink tint on her face "Also very caring, he's so perfect."

Sasuke's grip on her loosened, as a pang of disappointment struck him. He knew...that Sai got the upper hand. His hand dropped to his side, as he said, "Ah…then you should be going then."

'I have to find Sai soon, before Sakura even meets with him,' he thought dryly.

"Nani?" Sakura watched him stand up slowly, and stagger to his bed. "Sasuke…I just realized…"

He turned towards her, an eyebrow cocked. He rested his hands on his bed, almost climbing into the sheets.The Haruno's face turned flushed red, as her eyebrows twitched uncontrollably.

Sign of trouble.

Scratch that.

Total doom.

"WHAT WERE YOU DOING WITHOUT YOUR OXYGEN MASK?!" She screamed, standing up. Sasuke gulped as he froze on his bed. Question marks were sprouting fast as she advanced towards him. "SASUKE! PUT IT ON!"

"I DON'T NEED-" he began to rebel, when a sudden pause intervened. Shortage of air.

Shit.

Silence commenced as the raven-haired teen froze. His face looked like the after effects of drinking lemonade...without the sugar...and water...

Sakura glared at him angrily, and persperation started to slide down his head. To escape the mad kunoichi...and to find that cheater no good vermin...

There was only one option, and that is to...**_RUN!_**

Sasuke quickly jumped on his feet and sprinted out of the room, his bare feet slapping against the cold hospital tiles. His feet started to glow blue, the small drips of chakra that he had were being pumped into his legs were being used to quicken his speed.

His onyx eyes ran over the halls, searching for an raven-haired artist to speak with. Sadly, he spotted none, but there were something else that soon jumped into his mind.

"…SASUKE!" Sakura's voice shrieked not too far away. His eyes narrowed down as he sighed inwardly, and what Shikamaru would say in this situation:

_'How troublesome.'_

* * *

"Oy, Teme what happened to you?" someone squeaked from the window side. The Uchiha slowly turned his head towards the window, and gave a blank stare at the crouching shinobi.

"…er…ran around the hospital," his voice slightly muffled by the mask. Hot breath sprayed against the plastic and then disappeared with each breath he took.

"Why?"

"I needed to find Sai."

"So…Sakura chased you?" Naruto asked. He examined his bedridden friend, his blue eyes questioning the raven-haired teen strangely.

"She strapped me to the bed, you idiot," Sasuke muttered, wiggling his mobile parts underneath the chakra strings. To end that statement he shot a glare at him, while falling limp underneath the energy bounds.

"Aa."

"Hn."

"Why do you need to find Sai? He's usually strolling around the perimeters of the Forest of Death…"

"Figures," Sasuke growled, trying to free himself of the bounds. After a few wiggles, he gave an agitated look towards the blond shinobi, eyes commanding him. "Naruto, give me a hand here."

"Why?"

"Just…" Sasuke sighed, and plopped his head on the pillow. The Uchiha prodigy's eyes diverted to the ceiling."Can you make these strings disperse?"

"YUP!"

Sasuke felt a twinge of gratitude to his friend. "Thanks."

The blond ninja nodded his head furiously, held up his index and middle finger and tapped the light blue strings with his fingers. Ten seconds passed and then it exploded into a puff of smoke.

Almost immediately, he pulled off the oxygen mask, and Sasuke climbed off the bed. He ran towards the closet where they kept his old clothes. "Ay, Naruto, do me a favor."

"Yeah?" Naruto asked, as Sasuke slipped his Uchiha T-shirt over his head. He diverted his eyes to the peculiar sitting book on the desk, as Sasuke quickly changed from his pajamas to his clothing. "Ooh, Jiraiya-sensei got something-"

"Naruto, now's not the time," Sasuke huffed impatiently. Naruto turned back towards the teme, and cocked his head. "I need you to impersonate me until I get back, up for it dobe?"

"No, duh," Naruto said sarcastically. The eighteen year old climbed into the bed, and held up a hand seal. Smoke exploded and there was an exact copy of the Uchiha prodigy. 'Sasuke' glanced at the real one, "So I must lie here and impersonate you."

"Don't forget the strings," he helpfully input. Sasuke strolled briskly towards the window, and perched on it in a squat. "Also…try to be asleep or act...like me. Don't do anything stupid, idiot."

Naruto nodded, as Sasuke leapt from the window and into the nearby trees. As soon as he was gone the door opened. Just at the right time, Naruto thought in his head. At least the person entering haven't caught Sasuke taking his leave. Naruto gazed at the door and saw that there was his teammate standing in a bathrobe.

"Sasuke, it's time for your bath," Sakura said, in a sort of sickening sweet tone. She had a damp towel and a bucket of water in hand. Naruto stared at her, and she continued smiling at him. She slipped off her bathrobe revealing a navy blue swimsuit. Tossing his aside, she crossed her arms, and looked at him. "Ready?"

…

Nosebleed.

'OMG!'

* * *

A/N: And lol, I enjoyed writing this chapter and the next one. Ehehe. Bath time. :D And this would be a SasuSaku moment if Naruto wasn't Sasuke. :D So we all know Naruto is a pervert. -cough- Well, onto the sneak peek!

**_Sneak Peek:_**

Sasuke's eyes twitched, as he gave a death glare to his rival. "I don't like betting on her…"

Sai shrugged. "Well, if you want me to claim her-"

"You're on."

Sai gave a laugh, as he bounced himself off the tree. "Better hurry, Uchiha…you have only today to complete the first bet…you see, I'm going to go easy on you…since you're so pitiful. Gambatte."

Sai disappeared, and Sasuke was left there feeling quite offended. "Gambattimasu," he reluctantly replied before turning around to travel back to his room.

--

Stay tuned to the next chapter!!! Btw, nothing perverted in the bath scene. ;D

-Dewa Mata!


	10. Bath time! Part I

A/N: How long have I been keeping my fellow readers waiting for the next update? -thinks- Possibly a month. D: I left this chapter ten in my inventory for around...-scrunches eyebrows- one month?

Ah well...I think I was evil to you enough. :P SO as a treat for your patience...THIS CHAPTER. BWAHAHAHAHAHA. I have to admit **Sasuke is OOC **in this one. TT.TT Gomen... I SWEAR I'D GIVE YOU CHAPTER 11 IF FF NET WASN'T MESSING UP WITH ME! T.T

Well...what would be your reaction if you'd been dunk in cold water...u.u

Anyhoos, I had fun typing this. And reading chapter eleven, I'm inspired to continue writing. :D Be thankful to my rusty brain!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto...if so why would I be posting this here in FF net? o.O I mean...I COULD MAKE ALOTTA DOUGH! O..O -cough-

* * *

Did that lady just say…bath? And why was she wearing a bathrobe? 

Naruto's eyes widened as she walked closer. Panic arose in the transformed Uzumaki and all those emotions equaled to one word: "NO!"

The Haruno drew back, surprised that Sasuke was actually rebelling against a simple bath. "Sasuke…cooperate, it's just a simple bath."

"Oh hell I'm not taking off my shirt," the dobe objected, springing up from the bed. Yes, Naruto released himself from his own chakra bounds.

"Sasuke?! How the hell did you get out of there?" Sakura asked, as Naruto was poised to jumping out the window.

"I'm all awe-"

"ATTACK AND RESTRAIN!" Sakura screamed, as a reaction to her command, several jounins leapt in through the window and caught him.

"Sakura…" he said in a stoic way, but really he was screaming inside his head. She didn't pay attention to him, but told the ninjas to take him into the bathroom.

The Uzumaki could only helplessly watch as Sakura bound him to a pole in the room, and as the ninjas walked back outside.

The medic had one of a sadistic look on her face as she flicked the lock to the bathroom. "Sasuke…take off your shirt."

"Why? Are you a pervert?" he asked, narrowing his obsidian eyes. Sakura was taken aback by this rude behavior of her Uchiha friend. So…she would have to do this by force…

Sakura released the chakra strings, but the eighteen year old patient had not a bit of glory when she launched herself at him.

"TAKE OF YOUR SHIRT!" Sakura cried, trying to unbutton the blouse, she managed to take out a few of the buttons before he got a small advantage to jump against the wall near the shower curtain.

He hoped that a small distance would give him an advantage.

" NO WAY!"

--

"Fancy meeting you here," Sai mocked, resting his onyx eyes on the huffing figure standing in his way.

Sasuke gave a smirk. "I just have to see how your side of the bet is going."

He leaned against the tree surrounding the gates of the forest. "Ah, I see you're up and well."

Sasuke gave a light chuckle, but his eyes said otherwise. "I managed to get away from my medic, but otherwise I mustered strength to get here."

The shinobi's onyx eyes twinkled as he raised an eyebrow. "Uchiha, if you were well then I would be able to fight you right here and now."

Said person didn't budge from his original spot, even though he felt collapsing onto the ground. "Hn, that is if I was well. So any thoughts about our bet?"

"Just to let you know ahead of time, Uchiha. I'm going to ask Sakura on a date tomorrow," Sai smirked, crossing his arms across his chest. "I'm going to get her first kiss."

"Not unless I do something about it," he said rather immaturely. They both glared daggers at each other, as lightening crackled near them.

"Fine…we'll have three bets," Sai said, holding up three fingers. Sasuke nodded on cue. "One: get Sakura's first kiss, two: make her happy, three: see who she loves."

Sasuke's eyes twitched, as he gave a death glare to his rival. "I don't like betting on her…"

Sai shrugged. "Well, if you want me to claim her-"

"You're on."

Sai gave a laugh, as he bounced himself off the tree. "Better hurry, Uchiha…you have only today to complete the first bet…you see, I'm going to go easy on you…since you're so pitiful. Gambatte."

Sai disappeared, and Sasuke was left there feeling quite offended. "Gambattimasu," he reluctantly replied before turning around to travel back to his room.

--Meanwhile in the bathroom.

"SASUKE STOP MOVING!!!" she yelled, yanking Naruto's raven hair down from the ceiling. Naruto was reluctant; after all he had to buy time for the teme.

Oh he better treat the Uzumaki to loads of ramen when he comes back.

What Naruto didn't know was that Sasuke arrived in time to receive the torturing, and was quickly reverting back to his blood-stained pajamas.

Naruto was trying to escape without making much of a squealing noise, and he magically unlocked the door. Naruto, in a speed of light, dashed out the window, and reverted back to his usual self…whilst Sasuke…

"SASUKE!" Sakura shrieked her hair all messy from the fight with Naruto. Sasuke just looked at her curiously, why the hell was she in a navy blue swimming suit?

"Get…in…the bathroom," she said tiredly, pointing to the bathroom. Sasuke's eyebrows scrunched into one that was questioning.

"Why?"

Sakura grabbed him and tossed him in there, and locked the door once more. "Sit. Now."

Sasuke obliged and sat obediently on the small stool right underneath the shower faucet.

Sakura was a bit surprised that this time he was obediently listening. But that didn't cure her frustration for his past behavior. A vein was pulsing on her forehead, and she strangely looked like she was…ready to maul him.

"Take your shirt off."

Now it was Sasuke's turn to be baffled. "What? Why?"

"JUST DO IT!" she barked. Unhesitant, his fingers flew down his chest, unbuttoning his blouse.

When Sakura was mad, he'd learned, that he'd have to obey everything that she said, or he'd be flung across the village, sick or not.

"Er…" Sakura gave him a death glare which made Sasuke fling off the blouse. It was an awkward situation, being half-naked with a girl. Not to mention a girl…with a swimming suit on.

She then grabbed something in the wall near the nozzle, and tossed it up and down…and that was enough for Sasuke to understand what she was going to do.

_SPLSH _

Sasuke shivered as the cold water cascaded down his body, he was still sitting obediently on the stool…perhaps he couldn't stay obedient any longer.

Sakura grabbed the soap and proceeded to scrub his back with a soap towel. Then the towel traveled to his head, leaving a trail of soap bubbles.

"What the hell is going on?" he growled.

"You're taking a bath," she responded.

"Why did you have to assigned?"

"Because Tsunade-sensei knew you'd be reluctant."

Sasuke slumped and closed his eyes, "Dammit."

"Oh stop jabbering," Sakura exclaimed impatiently, scrubbing his right arm. The towel then traveled across his chest. Dammit hormones, he cursed.

She grabbed the shower head and drenched him in water. Shivers crawled up his spine, as the cold water drenched his warm body, "What the hell?! Can you **not **be lazy and actually," The water showering him had taken a dramatic change in temperature, "**TURN** THE HOT WATER ON?! **_SHIT_**, IT'S COLD!"

"SASUKE, STOP MOVING!" Sakura yelled, diving into the curtain of water. She shuddered but grabbed the Uchiha from fleeing to the door. Sasuke was trying to escape yet again, but was held down by Sakura.

The soap suds slid down his body, and it's time for the next step: shampooing.

Oh…the horror.

* * *

A/n: Joy! Shampooing! SasuSaku moment next chapter! OMG. Too much words! My brain's gon explode! 

Anyhoos. You guys dun need a preveiw of the next chappy. It's right after this...well, if FF net stop messing up on me. Much appreciated if you read the author notes. T.T AND TAKE TIME TO REVEIW THIS CHAPTER AND THE NEXT CHAPTER. If possible I'll have chapter 11 tonight or something.

-Dewa Mata!


	11. Bath time! Part II

A/N: TEH WONDERS OF EXPORTING! O.O

OMG. HERE'S CHAPTER 11!!!12121POTOATES!-spam-

SQUEEEE!!! SasuSaku moment!

Disclaimer: I dun own Naruto.

* * *

Sasuke jerked upwards when she held up a shampoo bottle. Sakura had this thick sticky liquid draping over his head and black hair.

"Hold still," she commanded, whilst Sasuke was shivering because of the cold water. Her delicate hands combed through his hair, lathering every strand with the shampoo.

Sasuke became rigid as she smoothed out his hair softly, and when she leaned against his back to swipe his bangs away from his face. His chest pounded crazily; here Sakura was…invading his privacy with nothing but a bathing suit.

Can anything get crazier then that?

Sadly…yes. The Haruno inhaled the mint smell of the shampoo and-

"DAMMIT!" he complained, as she grinded her hands into his head. "SAKURA!!! STOP TRYING TO SCALP ME!!!

Sakura's scrubbing decreased as tears almost threatened to spill out of his eyes. Sakura giggled as Sasuke realized that most of his hair was flat…stuck to his face.

"You look so much like Sai," she giggled. Sasuke remained silent, as Sakura calmed herself down. "But you're much more…"

Sasuke turned towards her, an eyebrow cocked. "I'm a much more what?"

"Nothing," the medic-nin sighed. She laid down the soap near their feet and switched on the faucet spraying both of them with coldness.

Sasuke was ready to bolt out of there for the umpteenth time, but as he abruptly stood up…Sakura did so too…just to stop him from leaving.

However, Sakura slipped backwards on the soap and absent mindedly grabbed Sasuke with her.

--

"Ow…" Sakura groaned, her head lying on the wet ground, water still splashing against her body, something stamped beside her, and when she opened her emerald eyes…

She met raven ones. They stared deeply into each others eyes and this caused her to blush. "Sorry…Sasuke…"

Sakura could see that he didn't want to budge, and she could tell…that he liked it when she was trapped.

This was awkward, Sakura thought, they stared into each others eyes for a long time, only her blushing deep red. The shampoo was sliding off his hair as the cold water continued splashing against his naked back.

Sasuke couldn't believe it, here was a perfect opportunity to complete bet number one.

Guilt rushed through his veins, as another war arose in his mind.

He couldn't let Sai get away with Sakura…Sasuke's supposed to protect her from anyone dangerous. Knowing Sai…he could break her heart faster and easier then he could. But…to have Sakura know about the bet. What could he do?

"Sakura…" he breathed, his hot breath tickling against her cheeks. Before the Uchiha could know what he was doing, he slowly pressed his lips onto her cheek, his eyes closing.

Sakura's eyes widened.

A second later he withdrew himself and allowed a small smirk. "That's…" A face of guilt became clear on his face. "…for trying to...scalp…me." He said the last words in a sigh.

"What?" Sakura asked, her heart still pounding.

The Uchiha suddenly stood up and helped the curious girl to her feet. Sakura silently stepped out of the bathroom and recalled what had happen.

Sakura pressed her back against the door in the room, as her face was still flushed.

She couldn't believe it, Sasuke kissed her. Well on the cheek…that was…er…nice…?

The Uchiha Sasuke stole her first kiss when she was hoping…ironically it'd be him.

But that was years ago, when they were still genin, but the pink haired girl couldn't help but smile when she remembered how his soft tender lips was against her cheek.

K-chak

Sasuke stepped into the room, looking quite emotionless. A white towel was draped over his hair, and a white cloth was flung over his upper body while he was only wearing black pants.

He stopped to throw the Haruno a glance, and then dropped onto his bed.

Silence, as the clock on the wall ticked.

Sasuke looked rather impatient if not agitated, as he closed his eyes expecting the Haruno to do something. After a while, he finally spoke: "Sakura…my medicine and lotion."

"O-Oh!" she stuttered, grabbing a bottle near the table. She seated himself near him, and set the bottles on the table. Neither said anything, while she gently rubbed a pastel cream onto his curse marks.

"I'm sorry," Sasuke murmured, inhaling deeply. Sakura was surprised and she looked up, but regretted that she did. Their lips clashed once more…into an accidental kiss, and quickly the Uchiha pulled away.

"I-I-I DIDN'T MEAN IT!" Sakura cried her face the color of red. Sasuke stared at her confusedly.

"…hn," he hummed.

"There, done," she said, breaking the silence. She set the bottle of cream aside, and allowed him to put his shirt back on.

"Sakura," he spoke once more, this time he stared bluntly at her. "Don't get near Sai…he's-"

"Sakura, guess what I brought you?" a voice cheerily asked from the doorway. The emerald eyed girl turned towards the eighteen year old, a slight smile on her face.

"S-Sai!"

"Sakura, oyasuminasai," he greeted walking towards them.

Sasuke felt a growl rumbled up his throat. Sai wrapped an arm around Sakura's shoulders, and turned her from Sasuke. "Why don't we go out and eat dinner, Sakura? You really deserve some rest…"

Sakura blushed madly, as she stared at the floor. "S-Sure…"

"Well, let's go!" Sai laughed, dragging her out the door, leaving Sasuke there alone fuming.

'Dammit, Sai,' he thought, abruptly standing up from the bed. 'I have to protect her from him, I really have to.'

* * *

A/n: OMG. SAI! NOOOO.

:D I'm still writing the next chapter. TT It might come out later tonight. :P How nice of me.

-Dewa Mata!


	12. Sai's Date With Sakura

A/N: Once again, the wonders of exporting does the work. I PRESENT THEE. CHAPTER 12!

YES! I'M ON A ROLL!!!

:P Now all may question why I am having a roll with HIdden Codes.

Reason: I have this new fic, I'm having a head start on, and I SOOOO want to write it. :P Oh wells. Another fight scene! I just love Sai and his dirty works. Poor Sasuke. xD

Disclaimer: I dun own Naruto.

* * *

How could Sai just steer her away from him right in front of his eyes? 

Besides Sai, something else was deeply bothering him.

'Why didn't I have the nerve to kiss her on the lips?' he thought dryly. Sasuke fell back onto the bed and stared at the ceiling.

After minutes of blank thinking, Sasuke shot up from the bed. "Wait...that...accidental…"

He stared at the floor a moment before gloomily adding, "I owe Naruto…a lot."

"Course," a raspy voice said from the window. Boringly, the Uchiha glanced at the dobe who had a clear frown on. "I couldn't last FIVE minutes with that chick."

Sasuke rolled his eyes, and folded his arm. "My chakra's drained…and my stamina just lowered…thanks to the bath incident."

"Hey you would've been dead by now, if I haven't stalled her for…the time you've been gone," Naruto added. The Uchiha shot a glare at the annoying ninja sitting at his window sill.

Grabbing the nearest thing he could get, which was the teenage Icha Icha book, he flung it at Naruto's head. "Here's your reward. Get out."

Quickly, Naruto received the book and chirped, "THANK…" He rocked backwards off the balance of the window sill. "YOUUUU!!"

The obsidian-eyed teen didn't pay the baka any mind when he heard a 'WUMP' on the ground below. After several seconds, he heard a faint. "HEY TEMEEE!!! CAN I HAVE THE ONES THAT KAKASHI-SENSEI GAVE YOU?!?!"

A vein popped on the Uchiha's head, as he reluctantly got off the bed. He grabbed a heavy cardboard box and strolled over to the window.

Sasuke stuck it out the window.

Drop.

BAM.

"…HEY SASUKE!!!" came the annoying voice of Naruto's.

The Uchiha leaned out of the window and glanced at the shinbo sitting on the ground six stories below. "What?"

"WHY ARE THERE BROKEN MIRRORS IN HERE?!" Naruto asked, holding a shattered piece of glass up to his face. "YOU DIDN'T THROW DOWN THE WRONG BOX, RIGHT?!"

"No, I threw down the **right** box in hope of crushing your face. Sadly that didn't work," Sasuke retorted, slamming shut his window afterwards.

The raven-haired boy rolled his eyes, ignoring the muffled yells of his former teammate.

'…Knowing Sai, he'll advance to the next bet right after the first one,' Sasuke thought. He narrowed his eyes at the park in which he spotted Sai and Sakura in. 'It's a risk to lose Sakura to a bastard like him.'

--

"The ice cream was good wasn't it?!" Sakura exclaimed. She stretched her arms into the air, and fell back into the bench.

Said person studied her face as her attention was converted to a cat that was stalking across the park. "Hey look, Sai, it's a cat!"

The medic was about to get up and walk towards it, when Sai grabbed her wrist. "Sakura…what's wrong?"

The girl's smile was immediately wiped away, as she sat back down in her seat. "Well…"

Sai looked seriously at her, as she continued looking down at her fingers. "Sakura…is something bothering you? Did Sasuke do something to make you upset?"

The medical ninja responded with a shake of her head. After a moment of hesitation she sputtered, "S-Sai…can I ask you something?"

The artist gave a smile; this was turning towards his favor. He knew that this conversation would lead to completing his first bet. Adopting a kind gentle voice, he said, "Sure."

She looked up, not at Sai, but her emerald eyes were glued to the black and gray cat that was eating something off from a child's hand. "…Can you help me catch that cat?"

"Say what?" Sai asked. He had a sweat drop on his head, as he watched Sakura jump from the bench and into a tip-toeing position. Sai looked at she crept closer to the kitten. "Why?"

"Shhh, Sai," Sakura whispered, creeping up to the cat. Seconds passed, and Sakura was inching closer.

Sai watched her, a frown clear on his face.

'Damn, I should've kissed her,' he thought bitterly, standing up to tail her. He watched her dive to catch the small kitten. Sai couldn't resist a smile, as she caught it firmly. 'I can see why Uchiha loves her…'

"Sai!"

He snapped out of his thoughts and looked up at Sakura. "Eh?"

"Look! I caught it!" she exclaimed, trotting towards him. Sakura lifted up the agitated cat for Sai to see.

"Uhm…that's…" Sai looked at it, and his smile dropped. "…great. But how do we smuggle it into the restaurant for dinner?"

Sakura pondered a moment and handed it for Sai to hold. She whipped out a white bag, and she held it up and opened it in front of him. "I'll put it in here!" She examined the bag and nodded. "Yup, it fits!"

The ninja sighed, and shook his head. He stifled a chuckle, "How simple. I guess it should work."

"Okay then!" Sakura said while clapping her hands together, as Sai put the cat into the cloth pouch. "Problem solved, let's eat!"

--

"Here, kitty. It's fish," Sakura whispered to the bag. The pouch was open slightly, and the cat head was poking out, investigating the piece of fish. Sai slowly ate his meal, while staring at Sakura in curiosity.

"Sakura…what in kami's name have you been doing this past ten minutes?"

The pink-haired teen smiled sheepishly at him, while the cat nibbled on the fish. "Should I take him home? It looks like a stray. I think I'll name him Kokusei!"

Sai sweat dropped, as she turned her attention back to the animal. "Now, I noticed…he has such strange eyes…" Sakura noted, putting the piece of fish back on the plate.

"Really?" he asked suspiciously. "Let me see the cat."

Carefully, Sakura shifted the bag over to him. And once the animal was in his hands, it looked up at him.

'…Red eyes…' Sai thought, he narrowed his eyes at it. After a moment, Sai smiled, as he reached for something from his pockets. "Here, you go…eat."

It looked at Sakura for confirmation, and she looked at Sai. "Sai…where did you get pieces of cat food?"

"Well, you know. I had some D-ranked missions to help some old lady buy cat food for her cats. She had extra so she gave some to me, just if I happened to come across a stray cat…" Sai said, nudging the cat with his hand.

Sakura smiled, and said, "Aw…that's so sweet."

"Yeah, the lady was always kind-hearted."

The emerald-eyed girl giggled. "No! I was talking about you."

A pink tint crept on Sai's face, as she continued laughing. "OW!"

Around his finger was a small ring of teeth marks, and a vein almost pulsed on his head. Instead Sai was careful to mask it with a smile. "He bit me! No…the food's there, not my finger!"

Sakura grabbed the cat and put it in her lap, and took the cat food. She neared it towards its nose and whispered, "C'mon kitty. It's okay!"

Reluctantly, if not cautiously, the black and gray cat nibbled on the food and soon ate it.

"Sakura…I think we should leave now," Sai said, while the medic was busy playing with the animal.

Sakura looked up and nodded. "Sure!"

"Alright, I'll walk you home…"

---

"Thank you so much, Sai," Sakura said. She hugged the cat close to her. "I had a great time!"

"That's great to know!" Sai responded.

Awkward silence followed.

"Well…I guess I'll see you tomorrow. Sayoonara," Sai said. He quickly leaned in and pressed his lip against hers. A second later, he disappeared in a poof of smoke.

Sakura flushed deep red, as she touched her lips. "Ano…everyone's acting strange to me lately…"

The medic slowly unlocked her door and walked in.

--

"You're such a strange cat, you know?" Sakura mumbled to herself, she examined the cat sitting in her lap.

"Red eyes…they remind me of Sasuke," she said to herself. It looked at her.

Suddenly the cat started to squirm, and the medic had a hard time keeping it still. "Nani? Kokusei? What's wrong?"

It leapt out from her lap, and darted out an open window. "Nani?" Sakura said to herself.

--

_'Damn!' _

Tp, tp, tp.

_'No!' _

A sandal landed in front of a lurking shadow.

"Good evening, Kokusei," a voice said eerily. The cat jerked towards the source of the voice. A shadow was standing over it.

Slowly the cat started to collapse onto the ground.

"Liked the cat food?"

It started to hack and soon the cat exploded and was replaced by a human coughing hoarsely.

"Dammit, Sai. What'd you give me?!"

* * *

A/n: Screw Sai, badly! D: DIE, SAI, DIE! We all hate Sai...yes we do.

Well. I dun. He's so awesome. D

-cough- But even though I hate him, I still like him. He's awesome. :D But hey...I support SaiSaku and much as SasuSaku...So you have no idea...what the end would be like. o.o

NEXT CHAPTER!!! Sorry, I have no sneak peek. D: But if you're to expect it, expect it coming out either tonight or tomorrow morning. :D

-Dewa Mata!


	13. Sai vs Sasuke! FIGHT!

A/N: Okay. T.T The internet became ebil and deleted all my notes. So...I'm just gun say...some stuff.

I thank all of you readers who take the time to actually reveiw, and I SERIOUSLY thank all the reveiwers who take the time to write comments about the chapter.

Okay, so this is like a fight scene between Sai and Sasuke. I have to admit it's kind of...eh...rushed. I can't draw action for crap...

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I own nuthin.

* * *

"Cat food, of course. I snuck in an extra ingredient, though," Sai said. "I knew you'd tail us, Uchiha." 

"Damn you."

"Well, I knew you'd play dirty, so I did too," he sniggered. Sai looked at Sasuke as he continued coughing. "So…the first bet, how'd you fare, eh?"

"Completed it, Sai."

"Hn. Before me, I'm assuming," the artist scowled at him. Sasuke managed a victorious smirk.

The Uchiha slowly got up onto his feet and wavered slightly. "I'm sorry Sai, but I win."

"Then the second bet…I win," Sai countered. Sasuke's eyes widened slightly.

"What?" the Uchiha asked in disbelief. Sai laughed, obviously amused by this game.

"She had a pretty good time…when you weren't tailing us," he informed. Sasuke narrowed his eyes at him, clenching his fists. "You know Sasuke; I have a pretty good feeling that I'll win this game."

The last word of his sentence felt like a brick against Sasuke's head.

His eyes flickered into a sharingan, as he grabbed Sai by the collar and shoved him against the alley wall. "Sai, don't you ever…think of Sakura…as a game," Sasuke said with a murderous edge to his voice.

The Uchiha could have sworn he saw the raven-haired boy smile. "Well, well, Uchiha…I see that you're fit and well."

Sai grabbed Sasuke's arm and threw him on the ground. He grabbed two kunai and flung one to the ground, right in front of the fallen Sasuke. The onyx-eyed boy slowly got up and grabbed the blade out of the ground.

Sasuke got up and looked at Sai. He smirked. "So you're calling me to fight?"

The ninja laughed, and bent his knee slightly. "In these circumstances…yes."

And he disappeared. Sasuke stared around, his sharingan eyes absorbing the high-speed movements. Pivoting about a point, Sasuke reflected a shuriken with his kunai.

It sent the metal star spinning onto the ground, and it sunk into the dirt.

'The fight only began. And I have limited of chakra,' Sasuke thought, grabbing the handle of a kunai that shot at him from behind. '...I'm at a disadvantage.'

"No bad for an injured person," Sai said, aiming a kick for Sasuke's face. After the raven-haired boy dodged it, his enemy disappeared yet again. Sasuke jumped backwards, and landed in a crouch; his eyes sweeping across the darkness.

A slight shimmer, and a barrage of kunai shot from one side. Sasuke narrowed his blood-shot eyes and tightened his grip on the kunai. He dodged most of them, and reflected some.

'Behind!'

Sasuke turned around, and met Sai with a punch into the stomach. The impact sent the artist flying backwards into a wall. He collapsed onto the ground.

"Eh, I guess you got me," Sai huffed, getting into a sitting position. He wiped away blood that was leaking out of his mouth.

"You're not trying to kill me; your attacks are just a tease," Sasuke wheezed. After moments of silence, they both controlled their breathing.

"So…you want me to go out on you?" Sai asked, standing up from his fall.

Sasuke's stare on him intensified. "This...is our dispute and we should take care of it…**seriously**."

"Very well, Uchiha," he grunted. Sai grabbed a kunai off the ground, and held it in front of him. "I'll be using taijutsu, just to have a fair match with you. When this kunai hits the ground. We begin."

It seemed to be slowed, as Sai released his grip on the kunai. And it dived towards the ground. Both ninjas eyed the kunai, and once it sunk into the ground, they both sped off.

* * *

"Kokusei!" a voice echoed through the lone streets. 

Sakura inhaled, as she sat down on the bench. 'Kokusei has been gone…for a long time…'

She sighed and listened to the sound of silence. However something was eerie about it.

'Eh?' Sakura turned her head towards the buildings. 'Why do I have a feeling that someone's there?'

The medic decided to investigate. She slipped her fingers inside of her weapon pouch and pulled out a kunai knife. Sakura stood up from the bench and kept her eyes glued to the alley way.

A weapon flew out and anchored itself into the dirt only a foot away from her sandal. 'Someone's there? No…people…'

Sakura glanced at the direction where the kunai had traveled from. She had a sinking feeling about it.

'Are there intruders? Or ninjas?' Sakura thought, dashing from various hiding places. She peeked at the hollow alley, and scrunched up her nose. She brought up her hand to her nose. "There's blood…I can smell it. Lots of it. Probably splashed all over the place."

The mere thought made her shudder.

Sakura shook her head, and tried to detect any movement coming from the midst of the buildings.

Zwip

A flight of shurikens narrowly missed her head, and they continued spinning upwards. She had her eyes widened as she watched the shurikens rain to the ground.

"God…" the emerald-eyed girl muttered to herself. "Someone's fighting!"

Gulping, she started running towards the area, ready to expect the worst.

* * *

Blood was strewn all over the alley way. As kunai after kunai was being fired at each other. 

Sasuke landed on his hands, and looked up with his sharingan activated. A millisecond after, he conducted a back flip, as a row of shurikens pinned itself against the ground.

Sasuke skidded to a stop in a squat, and he grabbed a shuriken from the ground. Not far away from him, Sai reappeared and landed on the ground.

Both were bleeding, either cut by a weapon thrown or slashed.

"Hmm, poison-tipped shurikens, ay, Sai?" Sasuke asked, examining the clear liquid strewn on the edges of the throwing star. He dropped it onto the ground. "Sadly, I don't play the same games as you."

Sai smiled, as he appeared in front of Sasuke with a kunai in hand. "That's too bad."

Sai thrust the end of his kunai into Sasuke's stomach. The Uchiha flew backwards, and tumbled onto the ground. The weapons already planted on the ground sliced at his skin as he slid to a stop.

Sasuke propped himself up with one arm, and the other cushioned his stomach. He looked up, glaring daggers at his opponent.

The raven-haired boy stood up and faced Sai. Not a second after he did that, Sasuke made a run towards Sai, aiming a round house kick when he was near.

Sai perfectly dodged it, but didn't expect Sasuke to swing his other leg at his neck area. The force sent Sai toward the ground; however Sasuke had his own strategic plan.

Roughly grabbing Sai's hair, Sasuke flung him into a wall of a building. He appeared in front of Sai, while Sai was still airborne.

Sending a burst of chakra through his fingers, Sasuke slammed Sai into the wall with a punch.

Stones crashed to the ground, crushing the ninja underneath. Rocks and particles of dust fell off, and beneath the mountain of rocks laid Sai.

The Uchiha jumped a few meters away from the pile of rubble, and panted. He observed the unmoving rock pile, and noted a twinge of movement after some time. Sasuke watched the particles and gravel crumble away to form a figure.

Sai slowly emerged from the rock pile, and coughed; he wiped away the blood that had spewed out from his mouth. After a moment of being hunched on the ground, Sai's image slowly began to disappear.

A strike made its way to Sasuke's torso, and he was quick to respond. Sasuke grabbed the arm that belonged to Sai and threw him into the air.

Plucking several kunai off the ground, the Uchiha aimed them at Sai. It pierced his skin, and as expected, Sai exploded to be replaced by a log.

Sasuke jerked forward and landed face-first onto the ground. Behind him, Sai was just withdrawing his kick.

"Tsk, I'm not that stupid, Uchiha," he said, as he watched Sasuke struggle to look up.

"I'm not either."

Sai looked at Sasuke with wide eyes, as he too disappeared to be replaced by a log.

Birds chirping were the first things he heard when Sasuke disappeared. He whirled around and faced the Uchiha, who held his right forearm with his left hand. Blasting around his right hand was a small bundle of electricity which had strays of lightning swirling around.

Sasuke looked up and glared at Sai, while he input the last drip of chakra he had in his system. The Chidori was small…but it would be effective. The ground around the bundle of the chakra-generated electricity began to rip away.

Sai flicked out a kunai, and met the Uchiha's glare. 'It's risky…but I'll risk it.'

Sasuke inhaled sharply as he leaned forward. 'It's now or never.'

'GO!'

Both ninjas charged at each other, one had a mere blade and the other had the Chidori.

BOOM

* * *

"What the hell was that?" Sakura breathed. She watched the sky fall back to its normal darkness. The pink-haired girl rubbed her eyes with the back of her hands. 'I swore I saw a flash…' 

Sakura had gone deep into the alley way. But the twists and turns of the confusing path had eventually caused her to be lost. She was certain that the fighting ninjas were around in a small intersection or square between the buildings.

'This area…I never been here before…' Sakura thought, looking around at the cement walls.

Her sandals smashed into a rock and Sakura fell to the ground, face-first. Something faintly wet touched her fingertips.

"Huh?"

She looked at the wet liquid puddle in front of her…it was blood…

Sakura's eyes trailed the puddle of blood and at the end of the trail…was a lump…

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!"

* * *

Sai and Sasuke were both blown backwards and slammed against the concrete wall. 

Blood was pouring down Sai's forehead from a gash marked about half of his forehead.

He coughed up blood that stained his neck and chin region. Scratches were made clearly across his face, and crimson liquid was stemming from various places on his body.

Sasuke laid his head against a broken slab of the concrete wall, and was breathing deeply. His injuries were as bad as Sai's, but he had more stamina to waste. Sasuke reached out a bleeding hand and gripped the edge of the slab; using it, he stood up and wavered slightly.

Sasuke inhaled deeply, and wiped his bleeding cheek with the back of his hand. "I'd love to fry you in the condition you're in now."

The sitting teenager held up his hands and smirked. "Go for it, Uchiha. Kill me."

Several seconds of silence passed, as each of them stared at each other. Dark scarlet eyes clashing with cool obsidian ones. Sasuke dropped his half-formed seal of the fire jutsu, and looked at the floor.

"No."

"I mean…you do hate me don't you, Uchiha? You've been up to my neck…at some times," Sai's eyes gleamed. He watched Sasuke for a reaction, but found none at the moment. "Or are you still mulling over the fact that I kissed her and think of it as a joke?"

This had hit a nerve, and his head snapped upwards. "BASTARD!"

* * *

Sakura punched the lump as hard as she could…after several moments… 

Crack

"Crack?"

Sakura looked up and found a broken doll at her mercy. She stood up, picking up the doll with her.

"Eh?" She examined it and then noticed that it was a doll drenched with red paint. 'Damn thing scared me."

Absent-mindedly she looked at the puddle in which she touched whether or not it was blood or paint. As she scrunched down, she caught sight of several blood splashes up ahead of her, not to mention a fresh dent made in the wall.

'Up ahead!' Sakura huffed. As she ran, she heard a faint yell.

The medic ninja tripped and landed at the opening of the small square. Her eyes widened at the display...

It's like before…

Using all her vocals, she screamed.

"STOP!!!"

* * *

Sai grabbed a nearby shuriken and had it in an arrangement. 

The Uchiha slid in front of Sai, kunai in hand.

And both were in position to kill each other.

'STOP!!!'

"MATTE!!!"

* * *

A/N: Oh noes. Something's gonna happen. You know, I can't help but have a feeling that this is kinda similiar to a scene in Naruto, which I've only seen a glimpse of. Oh wells. :P 

Well...dun ask how a chidori and a kunai creates a 'BOOM'. I just made that up. -.-

Anyways.

**_VITAL IMPORTANT QUESTION THAT DETERMINES THE FATE OF THE STORY!!!_**

DON'T LEAVE JUST YET.

I've been thinking, I mean seriously thinking, **WHO WANTS ME TO END THIS STORY AT CHAPTER SIXTEEN?!**

If you want it to end just like that, then say so.

BUT.

**WHO WANTS ME TO EXTEND HIDDEN CODES FOR SEVERAL CHAPTERS BEFORE IT ENDS?**

I noticed that I have plenty of time to do this on my computer. I can extend it longer, make it more realistic. But remember. Extending it will force me to overhaul the last chapters to fit the extra ones. So I need your opinions.

-Dewa Mata!


	14. OMG nyah?

A/N: This...is the revised chapter fourteen. I've decided to have a little fun with writing this. And it shall be called: 'The Kitty Arc!"

But anyways, have fun. xD

Disclaimer: I don't owneth Naruto.

* * *

Two orange objects were fired from the sky.

One of it intervened between Sai and Sasuke. Instead of slashing each other, both blades ripped the object into three pieces.

The second orange object was fired at Sakura, who had fallen limp after having contact with the thing.

Both boys looked at the source, but not a second later, one fist was each driven into their faces, blowing them apart.

"BAKA!!!"

Sasuke skidded a few feet away, as a barely recognizable person stood between them. When he blinked, his eyes returned into its usual onyx colored.

Sai was in a squat far away from the person, and his eyes were widened.

"NARUTO?!"

"SAI…SASUKE!!!" Naruto yelled. Two large veins were pulsing on his head. He looked at them with a scowl, which considered to look odd since he was wearing a nightcap and his pajamas. "WHAT'S GOING ON?!"

Sai grumbled, as he cast a glance at Sasuke. "Naruto, you don't need to know."

The Uzumaki chucked another orange object at Sai, square in the head. "DAMMIT, SAI. SHUT UP!!!" He turned towards Sasuke, his eyes twitching madly. "…Well? Sasuke…explain yourself."

"We…were fighting."

"It's not an issue you should know," Sai muttered, throwing aside the thrown object.

Naruto had a deep frown on as he looked at both of his teammates. "Why are you two fighting?! It's like a replica of Sasuke's battle with me." He shuddered. "Scary…BUT ANYWAYS. WHAT THE HELL?!"

The two remain silent, as Naruto ranted on and on about…his sleeping and how it was disturbed.

Out of boredom, Sasuke glanced at the tattered object that had kept Sai and him from killing each other. His eyebrow lifted in curiosity, "I-Icha icha?"

"The power of porn saves your lives," Naruto informed, though it seemed unnatural for him to joke since he was so pissed. In response to the ridiculously stupid comment, he received glares from both of them. "But anyways…Sakura couldn't see you two fighting."

"Why?" they both asked. Naruto gave them an 'are-you-stupid-' look.

"That'll totally scar her forever. And what would happen if I didn't cut in? Tch. She'd see both of her teammates dead. DIE. BY EACH OTHER'S HANDS!!!" Naruto screamed, batting an Icha Icha book around. He calmed down and spat, "Dumb asses."

"…"

"Both of you, to the hospital! And don't make me force you," Naruto grumbled, lifting Sakura off the ground. He received stares from them, and he glared at them. "Start moving!"

'Lucky bastard.'

'Damn dobe.'

* * *

--next day

"Jeez, Sasuke," the medical ninja muttered, whilst bandaging his one-day old cut. Sakura placed down the roll of bandages and wiped sweat off her forehead. "How the heck did you get this much injuries?"

The Uchiha remained silent, as he let her change the wrap on his head.

"You and Sai," she muttered, apparently forgetting the incident the night before. "Both of you were seriously wounded and hurt. And none of you would tell me anything about it."

"…"

"I mean, you're still under care. Do I have to strap you to the bed to have you behave?" she scolded. Sakura continued ranting, "You have no idea how worried sick you get me, and you still do these…stuff."

Sasuke sighed, his head was pounding with a headache, and her ranting was making it worse. He had to shut her up somehow. He was snapped out of his thoughts as he saw her fingering a bandaged around his shoulder.

"You have one here too?" Sakura asked in disbelief. Carefully using a kunai she sliced it off, and started rewrapping the wound. "Sasuke, you're just too much trouble. I swear I'm making you pay one day. And I'm not just saying-"

Sasuke patiently breathed, as he stood up to the headache. 'Sakura's talking too much…' he thought annoyingly. And idea sparked in his head.

The Uchiha closed his eyes, and he silenced her as his lips met hers. Her emerald orbs widened, as she felt his tongue dragging across her lips.

'What's Sasuke doing?!' she thought panicky, as she felt his hand gripping her arm. He pulled her closer to him, and his tongue seeped into through her mouth. She shut her eyes tightly, as a large blush came onto her face, 'NANI?!'

Sasuke wished he could get more intense, but something was scratching at his throat that he broke away from their contact. He swiftly turned his head to the side and-

Coughed hoarsely. He swore in his mind angrily, 'Stupid cat food. It still has its effect. Damn Sai…'

Recovering from his cough he looked at Sakura, and weakly muttered, "Thank god, you finally shut up."

She was left speechless and…did she just feel disappointment?

'…So he only kissed me to stop my talking?' she absently thought as he turned away from her.

"Sakura, I'm…sorry," he muttered. The pink-haired girl looked at him confusedly, and before she could question him the door opened.

"Haruno-san, you have another patient to attend to."

"Oh…alright," she said, abruptly getting up from the seat. Sakura walked outside with the nurse, and peeked at Sasuke, before she left.

Slam

There was silence, as Sasuke stared outside of the window. A dry coughing fit started to sound out in the room, and it started to disappear.

'Dammit,' he thought bitterly, whilst trying to control the cough. 'What was that-'

His eyes widened as something surged through his body.

B-bmp

"OY!"

B-bmp

"Hey, TEME!"

B-bmp

Naruto blasted through the window, and landed perfectly in the hospital room. The blond shinobi stood up and flashed a book in his hands towards the bed. "Ay! Lookit this! Jiraiya gave me the new release of Icha Icha!"

Hearing no answer the Uzumaki opened his eyes. "EH?! Teme? Where are you?"

"Mmf!" a small squeaky voice emerged from the empty bed. Naruto looked at the bed in suspicion, the sheets began moving, and chills ran up his spine.

Was it?

His conscious answered in a terrified voice: "It's the ghost of the ninja who never survived his seven slashes in the head, it's known to be perverted…**QUICK OFFER YOUR BOOK**!"

"GYAH!" Naruto screamed, falling onto the floor. In horror and with widened eyes, he watched a lump rise from the bed sheets.

The Uzumaki scrambled into a praying position, and he held the book out and bowed. In a shaky voice he said, "P-Please d-don't take my life…I OFFER THIS ICHA ICHA PARADISE BOOK TO THEE IN EXCHANGE FOR MY OWN LIFE!!!"

"Naruto? What are you talking about?"

"GYAHH!!!" Naruto screamed, dashing out of the door in a desperate run. "IT KNOWS MY **_NAME_**!!!"

"Nyah? Naruto?"

Slowly the shinobi's head peeked in and he was quite shocked to what he found on the bed.

"Why run, nya?"

"…"

"Nan-nyi? Why am mewn speaking like this, nyah? What happened to meew?"

"Eh?!" Naruto gasped, running towards the bed. Gingerly he prodded the animal in the head, and it scratched his hand away.

"Nyaruto!" it hissed, "Hshh, I'm eshhperiencin technical difficulties, nyu!"

"Is that you, Sasuke?" the shinobi asked, looking at the lump.

"Tshhh, course it mewn, nyah," it deadpanned in its squeaky voice. Naruto grabbed it underneath its arms and lifted it up.

His eye twitched as he set his eyes on the furry thing. Hanging from Naruto's hands was a fluffy black cat that had abnormally large droopy ears. It glared at him with almond shaped black eyes."What happened?"

"Mewn dunno," Sasuke replied immaturely. He sighed, something then snapped. "Sshai!"

"What?"

"Myah myu, meow! Hshh, nyah! **Sai! He gave me cat food! I bet this is the cause of the cat food**,"Sasuke explained, waving his small paws around. "Tsh nyu…mew nye mreow**…I need to strangle him…but it has to be later…**"

Naruto only stared as if he didn't understand his cat-transformed friend. Sasuke leapt out of his hands, and stood on the bed. "Nyaruto, mew nyah ne! **Don't tell anyone, Naruto! I'm going to find him.**"

"What?" Naruto said again, he watched his friend catapult out of the window in his tiny cat form. "WHAT?!"

* * *

'Meow, nya…mew…hsssh…**It's much hard like this than being low on chakra**,' Sasuke thought gloomily. He was hanging from a branch, his kitty paws were dug deep into the wood. 'Nyuuu! **Can't hold…!**'

The Uchiha's grip faltered as part of the branch snapped. 'Nyo. **Eck.**'

'Ne. **Damn.**'

And the branch broke. Although Sasuke was a cat, his ninja instincts kicked it. The cat dived towards the ground, and at the last moment, extended his front paws and it cushioned the landing. Using a small push, he back flipped and landed on all four.

'Meow nyah. **That was close.**'

* * *

"Whew…" Sakura breathed, she had her back on the hospital doors. "I guess paperwork seriously kept me up late…"

She looked at the sky, and it was a setting goldenrod. 'Ah…it's already late.'

Sakura clutched her handbag tightly and began her usual walk home. 'Another day at the hospital-'

Something shuffled near the bushes, and it certainly caught her attention. She walked towards the bushes. The pink-haired girl saw a familiar figure crouched there.

* * *

'Ne myah. Mewn hsh nyo. **Dammit. Stupid cat instincts**,' Sasuke thought to himself as he found himself strangely attracted to a twig that carried a piece of string. He snapped his paw away from the twig and turned the opposite way.

"Meow, ne. **Must not be…lured**," Sasuke muttered to himself. He strolled for a short distance, pacing back and forth. "Shai, nya…mreow…**Sai…where is he? If**-"

"Kokusei?"

He froze in his speech and looked up. "Nyeh. Shhkirya. **Shit. It's Sakura.**"

"Kokusei!" Sakura cried, picking him up. "I've been searching for you! Where have you been?"

Sasuke patiently allowed her to snuggle with him. He responded sarcastically, "Mewn nya. **I wonder.**"

"What happened to your paw?" she asked, fingering it.

The Uchiha sighed. "Meow. **Scratch.**"

"Come, I'll take you home."

"Henh nyo. **Hell no**," he muttered in shock. "Shai mya chsh mewn ne myah. **Sai has to change me back, dammit!**"

* * *

A/N: And pardon the stupid cat language. xD I couldn't think of anything else. So Sasuke's an OCC cat in the next chapters. Eheh. Sai to thank for again. Gomen to those who like Sai, I do like him, and for making him evil in this story.

-Dewa Mata!


	15. I HATE YELLOW! And a Little Sleepover

A/N: RAWR! I OVERCAME THAT HUMOUNGOUS WRITER'S BLOCK THAT WAS ON ME! APPLAUD ME!

-looks sheepish- Go. Me. Ne! I managed to bring myself to finish typing the rest. I'm very sorry, but I found myself incapable of extending the chapters. For that I must punish myself and complete Ch 16. So here's a double set.

It will end all very soon. Just this and the next chapter. I will get the epilogues out, and can you believe that there are three different epilogues? oo

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

"There we go," Sakura muttered, dropping him onto the couch. "Don't try to run away again."

"**Damn Sai**," he muttered, as he watched Sakura walk away. Sasuke jumped to the kitchen counter and shifted the window open. "**I need to go.**"

"Uh-uh," a voice said teasingly as Sasuke was ready to leap out the window. His ears drooped as he glanced at her. "You're going nowhere. You're in serious need for a bath, Kokusei."

"**Crap**," he muttered, as Sakura lifted him up from the kitchen top. '**Damn you, Sai**.'

--

Sakura laid him on the sink counter, and filling up the sink half way was luke-warm water. The Haruno watched Sasuke try the water by dipping one of his paws into it.

'**And now she thinks of turning warm water on**,' he thought with a slight sweat drop.

Splsh

'**I fell in**,' he thought, sputtering in the water.

"Okay, don't squirm now."

"**Oh no**," he muttered, as she turned on the faucet. Warm water dripped onto his black fur, and Sasuke was impatiently staring ahead of him.

Sticky liquid was covering his head, and Sakura was tenderly washing his head.

'**It does feel good…somehow**,' Sasuke thought peacefully, as he twitched his nose. '**Is this strawberries?**'

"You smell like strawberries now," the Haruno giggled as she rinsed his cat form.

"**Whatever**," The Uchiha replied in a low bored voice.

---

"**Damn**," he thought whilst resting on a fluffy white bed. He gazed around boringly and then sighed. '**I hate this, but...**' His cat beady eyes landed on a book lying on the desk.

His ears perked up.

'**Is that her diary?**' his eyes lit up and he jumped onto the desk top. '**Jackpot!**'

He nudged the cover open and flipped the pages with his nose. Pinning down the page, he began to read Sakura's neat handwriting.

**Dear Diary...well book. You're a book. Just a book. But anyways. **

**Today was normal. I guess. If you call treating patients normal. But anyways. It's strange that Sai and Sasuke...**

Sasuke stopped reading. "**Oh gee. Sai's so special, Sakura writes his name before mines.**" The cat paused for a moment. "**I'm just being irrational, Sakura can't like Sai...**"

He shrugged.

Continue reading then.

**...got themselves hurt. None of them would tell me. That sucks. Oh yeah. Sai gave me a present. It's a cute necklace! I **_**love**_** it. Something strange also happened, I think it was not meant, but Sasuke...er...kissed me! **

**GOD, how do I face him tomorrow?! **

The Uchiha smirked. '**Oh yeah, I rock. Right back at you, Sai.**'

**Though it was kinda-**

"Kokusei?"

Sasuke quickly closed the book and noticed a shadow towering over him. He turned around slowly and looked at Sakura who was standing in her pajamas.

She had an arched brow and was looking at him accusingly. "What...were you doing?"

"**Nothing?**" he muttered, his large ears drooping slightly. She stared at him for a while, a blush rising on her face.

And unexpectedly, she hugged him.

"Ah! KAWAII!"

"**Sure, sure, now leggo**," Sasuke mumbled, as his head was rubbed on her cheek.

"You know, I have a great idea!" Sakura exclaimed, pulling him away from her.

The Uchiha just cocked his head with a raised brow.

---

"**God not this**," he muttered a frown on his face. He poked the baby bib he was wearing, and a bonnet.

It was yellow.

'**I **_**hate**_** yellow**.'

Sasuke was squirming in the chair he was sitting in. He then gave up when he found out that his paws wouldn't cooperate when taking off the belt.

'**Oh wells.**'

"Kokusei!" Sakura said, she placed a small can of cat food in front of him in a tray. Sasuke winced at it. "I finally got cat food."

She used a small spoon and scooped a chunk of it out of the can. Sakura placed it in front of his mouth, but he turned away. "C'mon. It's cat food."

"**Yeah, yeah, I know,**" he said. And then he added. "**That's why I won't eat it.**"

Then…

Something dangled in front of him, his black eyes observing it intently.

"**Is that?**" Sasuke asked staring as it swung back and forth tauntingly. Soon…he had a need to eat it. His paws were swiping at it, as his eyes identified what it was, "**STRING! MY GOD IT'S STR-…what the hell am I saying?**"

Something was jammed into his mouth. The spoon. And wretched cat food.

'**Hell is here**,' he thought, the spoon pulling out from his mouth. Sasuke chewed slightly. '**Actually…it's not that bad…**"

Soon, the can's contents was diminishing and Sasuke was at the last spoon.

"**Ahhh,**" Sasuke automatically opened his mouth to receive the last spoonful of cat food. '**I think I lost my sanity**.'

Hurk

'**Suddenly, I feel that this isn't digesting well…**' The Uchiha thought to himself, holding a paw to his mouth. The bonnet and bib was immediately taken off his figure, and the medic picked him up.

"You actually ate the whole can! Well! Let's go to sleep!"

Sasuke's ears dropped and the color drained out of his face.

'**Dammit…**'

--

Here was Uchiha Sasuke.

Here was a fluffy white pillow.

Now what was he supposed to do again? Circle it and just plop down or plop down and roll around?

Being a cat can be hard.

Really…really…hard.

Sasuke opted for the second choice and collapsed on the lumpy pillow. Boringly, the cat rolled around on his back. Sakura petted him on his head and what was that low grumble coming from his throat?

'**And I'm purring**,' he noted bleakly.

"So cute!" she cooed for the umpteenth time. Sasuke sighed and purred for no reason at all. "You know. I feel like I can tell you everything!"

Sasuke's ears perked up. "**Oh really?**"

--

'**How the hell did 'I feel like I can tell you everything' lead to this?'** Sasuke asked himself boringly. His large cat eyes watched the Haruno hang several yukatas on the bed rack.

"Oh, Kokusei! There's a festival coming up, which one would I wear?"

"**To flatter who, Sakura?"** The Uchiha asked, a vein pulsing slightly. Whoever was going to take her to the festival, he'll kill him.

To Sakura, the retort of the kitty was just a lazy meow that easily stated: 'I don't care what the hell you wear, so please.'

The pink haired medic only gave a patient smile at the cat, and patted him on the head gently. "It's okay if you don't really know. I haven't even told him how I feel."

This perked up his interest. **"Nani?"**

Sakura almost lost her footing just thinking about whom she liked. Her face turned all read and she cradled her face with her hands. "Iia! Just thinking about it turns me red!"

"…**So desu ne…"**

"Demo…" Sakura continued, twirling her pink hair around her hair. "I don't think he likes me."

'**If it's Sai you're talking about, I don't wanna know…' **

"He was nasty before! But I believe he changed!" Sakura exclaimed to herself. If someone was to walk by that very moment, they would think she was protesting against someone.

--One hour later…

"And then Ino tells me that it's too impossible! He has tons of girls coming after him!" the Haruno continued, a determined look coming onto her face. Sasuke was about to fall asleep, he was already starting to nod off to dream land.

After all, she was talking about her 'crush' in such a general manner, that it's hard for him to distinguish between him and Sai.

'**C'mon, it's been one frick hour already,' **Sasuke thought bitterly. If this was a normal thing, he wouldn't have been so impatient of his true love. However, she's been slowly eating his patience with all these general facts. **'Just confess who you love and let me strangle Sai after.' **

Much to his dismay, Sakura yawned slightly and stretched. "Well, I have something to do tomorrow, so I'll turn in early." She switched off the lights near her bed, and snuggled in. "Good night!"

'**And next thing you know it, she's out like a flash. Seriously…'** Sasuke thought to himself, before jumping off the bed. Very slowly he made his way towards the diary. Cat vision, oh how he loved it. It gave him the ability to see the dark! What magnificent advantage to read her diary!

Except…

B-bmp

'**Nanda…?'**

B-bmp

'**It's here again…**'

B-bmp

FLSH

A teenaged boy fell down onto the ground. He cussed in his brain, of course he will have to go out and kill Sai. The cat food kicks in just at the right moment! And besides…Sakura was sleeping, but could easily be woken up.

Knowing no other choice but to escape, Sasuke crept out an open window and disappeared in the night.

--

"Sasuke…" a voice squeaked from the door.

"Hn?" He looked up from a small book and cocked his eyebrows at the medic standing before him. "What are you doing here one o' clock in the morning?"

Sakura hugged her sheet and pillow close to her white pajamas. Tears were visible at the edges of her eyes, and she whispered. "I had a nightmare."

The Uchiha narrowed his eyes and stared at her, who was looking at him as if he was her mother. He sighed, "…And you had to come all the way here…why?"

Sakura sat down on a chair and inhaled slowly and exhaled. "I got scared…I thought…" Her last words died on her tongue, as tears started collect around the brim of her eyes.

"Thought…what?"

Tears started to spill out of her eyes. "You…you…"

"Hey…" Sasuke muttered. He attempted to comfort her by placing a hand on her shoulder. But Sasuke found himself hopeless in comforting people. "Um…"

Lamely, he patted Sakura's shoulders lightly. It was useless on asking Sakura more because she was already crying relentlessly. 'Damn…this must be my fault…and Sai's.'

"I was scared…" she cried, tears dripping down her chin. Sakura rubbed her eyes rashly with her hands. "…you were attacked…got hurt…I thought that you died! Right in front of me too!"

Sasuke frowned and sighed. 'What the heck should I d-'

He stopped in mid-thought, when he felt Sakura hugging him. Her head was laid on his chest, and she was clutching his arm tightly. "And….I couldn't do anything to help! I'm useless!" Sasuke remained silent, as her tears got soaked up by his t-shirt.

"Relax…" Sasuke finally spoke, in a gentle voice which sounded new coming out from his mouth. The tone surprised both Sakura and Sasuke. "I'm still here…see?"

To prove his point, he placed his hands on top of hers. "You're not useless…think of all the patients who couldn't have survived…if you weren't a medic…"

Sakura blushed a bit, as the tears started to dry.

"I…am one of those patients. If you haven't been here…I'd be dead, like in your dream," the Uchiha continued. "So…don't think you're useless okay?"

Sakura didn't speak, instead she smiled and her face reddened. After a while, she released her hold unto her former teammate and looked at him with big round eyes. "Ano…Sasuke?"

He looked at her curiously, an eyebrow cocked. "Yeah?"

"Can I sleep with you?"

"…"

--

"I don't see the reason why you have to sleep here," Sasuke mumbled, his body shifted to one side of the bed. He glanced at the medic who was lying next to him.

"I'm scared," she complained. Sasuke sighed, and rolled over so he could face her.

"…Why would you be scared if you could seriously hurt people?"

Sakura bit her lower lip and tossed a glance at him. A small tint of pink crept on her face, as she mumbled. "…I wouldn't hurt you…"

The raven-haired boy inhaled her sweet scent, as he turned his back on her. He then said sleepily, "You're so annoying…"

"I know."

There was silence…for a dreadfully long time. The nightmare of Sasuke lying injured still haunted the medic that she didn't dare to sleep. Thoughts of her friend poisoned to death right in front of her eyes started to seep in.

"Sasuke?"

No response. Sakura turned slightly to only see the back of his white t-shirt, some of his curse marks were visible as well. Worry began to poke her, and so she sat up and looked at him.

"Sasuke?"

No response. The medic started to panic. What if he's dead, what if the curse marks had eaten him? Was he gone? Forever? As tears started to sprout again, she found that the 'corpse' had moved.

"Nnn? What is it, Sakura?" he asked tiredly. Sasuke gave her a tired stare.

"I can't sleep."

Sasuke frowned, as he dropped back onto his pillow. "Good night."

"But Sasuke…!"

"**Good** **night**."

Everything then went silent.

Sakura clenched her fists, and frowned. 'I can't sleep…I need to do something.'

She glanced at the small booklet that Sasuke had been reading. It was sitting so innocently on the table next to the bed, and it could put her mind off sleeping.

Sakura opened it, and began reading.

**-Hospital journal**

**---Today, I fell ill. Not really, but I got poisoned. Being bedridden deprived me of plenty of my skills, and the damn poison had left me with my curse marks. I'm left alone in my room reading…things…**

Sakura stopped reading. 'This…is his journal…I better not invade his privacy…' Something moved next to Sakura, and shot at her torso sides.

"KYAH-mrph!" Sakura screamed, her scream was soon muffled by a hand. She shot a terrified glance at the person who covered her mouth, not surprisingly…it was Sasuke.

"What were you doing with my book?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. Sasuke let his hands drop and allowed her to talk. The Haruno seemed quite frightened from his sudden 'assault.'

"I-I…was…going to put it back! I swear!"

"Sure…" he muttered, rolling his eyes. Sakura frowned, and she grabbed her pillow…

WHAM.

"I'm telling the truth!"

"Yeah, I know," he responded dully. That earned another whack at his head. This time her result of whacking him was a vein. And a particularly large one aswell.

He glared at her, "Sakura…I'm tired. I want to sleep. Now good night."

"NO!" she slammed her pillow against his head once more despite the consequences. Sasuke mumbled and then-

"STOP, STOP –hahahahaha-SASU-hahahah-KE!!! IT TICKLES!!!" she cried whilst laughing. The Uchiha had a mischievous smirk on, as he continued tickling her in the stomach.

"This is what you get for hitting me!"

The medic started whacking the pillow at his face. "STOP! STOP!"

--

"I can't believe it's three in the morning already…" Sasuke mumbled. He stared at the ceiling and then glimpsed at Sakura who was lying besides him.

"Well, if you didn't tickle me two hours ago," Sakura started. Sasuke sat up and looked at her as she continued giggling.

"You're so annoying, Sakura."

She beamed, as her face reddened. "Well…I do make a rep by being that."

The pink-haired girl earned a soft punch in the head from Sasuke as he whispered playfully, "Baka."

* * *

A/N: Awwww, how cute. -squeals at Sasuke's cuteness with Sakura- I can eat five bowls of rice for this! -copyig some weird anime character-

Etto, please read the next chapter!


	16. The Ending of the Beginning

A/N: HAI! The last of the last! Hidden Codes is finally going to end! -praises kamisama- It was wonderful throughout, and I wished I had more inspiration on this! Demo...enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

"Sakura.."

"Nn?"

"Are you awake?"

Sakura shielded her eyes from the light that blinded her. She mumbled, "Sasuke…we slept at four o' clock, can't I sleep longer?"

"Sasuke? Slept at four o' clock?"

Sakura's eyes jerked open as she realized whose voice it was. What met her wide green eyes were chocolate brown ones.

"Tsunade-sensei?!" the medic exclaimed, sitting up quickly. "What're you doing here?"

The sixth Hokage wasn't pleased. The blond woman examined Sakura, and looked at her accusingly. "Alright, Sakura speak up. What did you and Sasuke do last night?!"

The pink-haired looked confusedly at her. "What?" She then glanced at her chest, and realized that the first three buttons weren't properly fastened. "I didn't do anything!"

"Where's Sasuke?" she asked, murder clear in her eyes. Sakura gulped and leaned away, while buttoning up her pajamas.

"What? He's not here?" Sakura asked, looking behind her. Tsunade was right, Sasuke wasn't there but absent. The pink-haired kunoichi could feel heat, if not anger, emitting from her medical sensei. "No really, Tsunade-sensei…I didn't do anything!"

The old woman narrowed her eyes, not believing what her student said. After a while, Tsunade calmed down, and slowly asked, "Well then. Explain the ruckus that went on last night."

Sakura scratched her head, and had a slight blush. "I…had a nightmare."

Tsunade raised an eyebrow and eyed her suspiciously. "People say they heard giggling."

"Well…well, Sasuke was tickling me!"

"…why?"

"Cus…I bothered him?"

"Sure…" her teacher said, the word being heavy with sarcasm.

"Tsunade-sama?" a voice asked, near the door. The sixth Hokage's ears twitched, as she abruptly turned around and jabbed a finger at the person.

"Uchiha Sasuke!" Tsunade yelled. She stormed up to him and held a threatening finger. "What did you do to Sakura last night?"

He only stared blankly at her, quite oblivious to the situation. After several moments of registering the question into his brain, he only answered with an: "What do you mean?"

She only narrowed her eyes and glared at him, expecting him to know. The Uchiha tried to recall what had happen the night before.

"Ah…I punished her for looking into my journal without my consent."

Tsunade looked at him curiously, "Punished?"

Sasuke closed his eyes, and said knowingly. "I tickled her…then…punched her."

The medical ninja slid between Sasuke and Tsunade before her teacher barked any unnecessary words. She gave Tsunade a sheepish smile. "Eh…it was _**very**_ soft, it didn't even hurt!"

"Fine, I'm leaving," Tsunade mumbled, storming out of the room. As she left, she gave a slight curt nod towards the side, before walking off.

"You totally owe me one, Sasuke."

The Uchiha ignored her, as he brushed besides her and sat on the bed. Sakura watched him fold the bed sheets, and then that's where she noticed it. "Sasuke! Your curse marks are almost gone!"

"Yeah…the hospital's discharging me later this afternoon," Sasuke said, without looking at her. After moments of silence, he looked up and peeked at her. "You should get changed."

"Oh!" Sakura cried. She briskly walked over to the window, and shoved it open. "I have to get my clothes- Ja-"

Sasuke grabbed her wrist and yanked her back in. "Don't need to. I got it for you."

Sakura then saw her medic uniform lying on a chair, along with her weaponry. She dashed to it and grabbed it. Sakura then ran into the bathroom while yelling, "Thanks!"

--lunch…

Knock, knock.

"Come in," came the monotone answer. The door creaked open and Sakura' face poked inside.

Sasuke looked at her for a moment before returning back to another book. "What do you want?"

The medic shuffled inside, and stood next to a chair. "Sasuke…I need help."

"What kind of help?" he asked curiously. Sasuke set aside his book, as she sat down in the chair. Sasuke glanced at the door side, and narrowed his eyes. 'He's there…'

Sakura fiddled with her finger as a visible blush came on her face. "Well…it's a guy…"

The obsidian-eyed boy diverted his attention back to the girl. "Yeah?"

"I like…someone…but I don't know if he'll like me back," Sakura started. The Uchiha's heart skipped a beat; the third bet was finally taking place…

"So that's your dilemma?"

Sakura scratched her head, as the redness in her face increased. "He's nice, polite, strong…everything a girl could wish for."

The kunoichi looked at the ground. "And…you know. He has a lot of girls liking him. But…I think that he's especially nice to me because I'm special. But…you know, he hides his feelings and has fake emotions on the outside. Sometimes I hate seeing that."

Sasuke's hope flickered out. His shoulders drooped slightly and remained silent.

"But…" Sakura laughed. "For a slight moment…he showed me his true feelings, and well…I decided to tell him that I loved him. It's hard doing it though, he might hate me. I don't know what this guy thinks sometimes…"

The pink-haired girl looked up at Sasuke for a while, hoping for some advice.

"…First…how's he like?"

"Sometimes, he can be emotionless, but he knows how to smile. It just makes me happy to know that I have gotten his real smile. He has good qualities as much as bad qualities. I guess he came off a rocky start but he's alright now."

"He can be an idiot sometimes…" Sakura muttered. "But that's just him. I can't judge him because of his past…Well of course at one point in his life he became a bastard, but…he redeemed himself. Made himself worthy of my trust again."

"I guess there's nothing else…" Sakura trailed. Her head then snapped upwards, and her eyes brightened up. "Say, Sasuke! What do you think of me?"

"You're…a great ninja…and friend…" he mumbled, his eyes still glued to the ground. Sakura's face fell a little, and her eyes were cast downward.

"Well!" She brought her head up, a smile plastered on her face. "I guess just being a good friend isn't going to work…but…I…should tell him…right?"

Sasuke stared at the ground for a long time.

'_It's Sai…I know it is…she's depending on me to make this choice for her.'_

'_I can say no or yes…I can win the bet…and-' _

He paused in mid-thought.

'_No…I want her to have that smile…and…be happy...' _

Slowly, he looked up and gave a gentle smirk. The words seemed stuck in his throat, but he slowly choked: "Yeah…go tell him."

The figure disappeared, and he saw Sakura flash a smile before standing up. Without a word, she dashed outside of his room.

The Uchiha stood up and shuffled towards the door. He looked out into the hallways.

Sasuke banged his fist against the door frame and sighed.

'If I wasn't such a coward…' he narrowed his eyes, watching Sakura knock on a door. '…she wouldn't…'

The door opened and Sakura went in.

'_He wins…I lose…it's over.__I'm over.'_

Sasuke watched the door close, and he sighed.

'After everything I've endured and did...'

Sasuke recalled the fight between him and Sai, he recalled Sai stabbing him in the arm, and he remembered his bath, his meeting with Sai, the closet incident, Naruto and the books, and most importantly…the start of it all.

Taking a last look at the hospital room, Sasuke gripped the doorknob of the room, closed it, and began walking down the halls.

'_**It's done.' **_

Knock, knock

"Sai?"

"Eh? Sakura? What're you here for?" Sai asked, his gaze directed towards the medic standing at the door. He was all confident that she was his, after the long struggle with the Uchiha.

Sakura sighed depressingly, as she looked at him. "I'm screwed."

His confidence immediately fell as he heard the strange words. Sai looked at her curiously as she sunk into the chair next to his hospital bed. "W-What are you talking about?" he asked, his face screwed in disbelief.

The pink-haired medic sighed, looking down at the ground. "Now, I lost all hope in telling him."

'What is she talking about? I'm here. What's up with that?' he asked himself, panic arising. Sai looked at her kindly and cocked his head. "What's the matter, Sakura?"

She buried her face into her hands, and mumbled something inaudible. "I…he hates me!"

"Who?"

"The…guy I love."

"How'd you come to that conclusion?" Sai asked. He was very confused, as he heard another sigh come from the pink-haired kunoichi.

She looked at the ground, and frowned. "I had this feeling."

"But it's a feeling," Sai countered. The Haruno stared at him for a while and then nodded.

"It's hard to tell him though, and it's…hard to know what he thinks about me," Sakura mumbled, her eyes wandering about the ground. Sai's eyes widened slightly, as confusion continued to mix in his head.

He slowly conjured the words, and said shakily, "Sakura…"

Said person snapped her head upwards and stared at inquiringly.

Sai continued, "…if you trust me…" He looked at her in the eye. "...can you tell me who you love?"

--

"Alright, you're good to go," a nurse said, after depositing several papers into a vanilla folder. She looked up at the Uchiha and nodded.

Sasuke hummed in response and turned towards the door. 'Finally, I'm out…'

He pushed open a glass door and stepped outside. The raven-haired boy glanced up at the sky; life will be the same as always. Sasuke proceeded down the steps of the hospital.

"SASUKE-TEMEEE!!!" a voice cracked.

The Uchiha stopped for a moment, as he sensed a familiar blond shinobi fly towards his way. "What do you want, Naruto?" he asked dully. Sasuke directed his onyx-colored eyes at the ninja whom had skidded to a stop in front of him.

"You're finally out! Let's go train! I've been DYING to beat you up aga-" Naruto started, flashing the foxy grin of his. His words died as he noted that the Uchiha had walked away from him. "H-Hey! Aren't we going to train?"

Naruto stepped in front of him and looked at the Uchiha. Sasuke was reluctant to look at the Uzumaki and Naruto tried to study his best friend's face. "Ay…teme, what's up?"

Sasuke sighed and pushed the Uzumaki away from him. "Nothing."

The blond-haired boy grabbed Sasuke's shoulders to prevent him from walking. He then said seriously, "It's not '**nothing'**. It's something. And it's bothering you."

Sasuke turned slightly and looked at him, with dull eyes. "It's nothing."

Naruto instantly slammed his sandal into Sasuke's back, causing him to fly forward. "See?! IT IS SOMETHING!!!"

His friend slowly got up, he wiped his mouth from the dirt, and he shot a glare at Naruto. "What the hell was that for?"

The ramen-loving ninja folded his arms, and stared at Sasuke intensely. "If it was nothing, you'd be able to detect my VERY OBVIOUS KICK, TEME!" The Uzumaki ran towards Sasuke, and gripped his collar tightly. "Teme, I can beat your ass right here without any effort."

There was a long silence between them, and the Uchiha lowered his eyes to meet Naruto's. Sasuke sighed and gave in. He brushed Naruto's hand off from his collar. "Fine…I'll tell what has been going on between Sai and I…"

--

Sakura blushed heavily and in a very small voice she muttered, "Sasuke…"

Sai's world stopped, as he watched her continue blushing. His heart almost ceased to beat.

"But…I don't know what-"

Sakura was cut short when Sai kissed her on the forehead. He took back his lips from her forehead, and he patted her head. "You know…I can't believe you love Uchiha…"

"Eh?" Sakura asked, as he pulled her into a tight hug. "Sai…"

Sai laid his head on her shoulders and sighed. He inhaled slowly and exhaled, trying to force out the words caught in his throat. Croakily, he muttered into her ear, "Sakura…I love you."

--

"So, what's wrong?" Naruto inquired, as they sat on a tree limb. Sasuke tightly clenched his fist, as he looked down onto the forest floor. Sasuke took in a deep breath before considering the things he wanted to say.

"…I…I don't know," he admitted, after discovering that he was unable to confess to his best friend.

"You do know," Naruto countered sharply. He stared at him with his azure eyes, and Sasuke noticed that.

"It's better if you know the whole story…"

"Go ahead. Shoot."

And slowly, the Uchiha began to explain how he had gotten poisoned. He talked about everything, including Sai and the bet. Sasuke had a hard time explaining the fight between him and Sai.

"And…here I am. I lost," Sasuke chuckled half-heartedly. "I lost to Sai. I'm nothing now."

He turned towards Naruto to observe his reaction, and he saw that the Uzumaki was deep in thought.

"Sasuke…" the blond shinobi began. He punched Sasuke in the arm, and the victim almost fell off the branch. "Are you an idiot?! You're not nothing, you're still Sasuke!"

Said person looked at him skeptically. "Are you stupid? Can't you see? I'm over. I'm done. Sakura likes Sai, and not me. So there!"

"Hey, you said it," Naruto muttered. He stood up and rocked side to side on the branch. "I can't help you…"

Sasuke mumbled under his breath. "Then why'd you ask me what happened?"

Naruto sighed and leaned against the trunk of the tree. "You know…Sasuke. Let me tell you something…"

--

"But…Sai. I love Sasuke," Sakura said, pushing Sai away from her. She looked at him apologetically. "I'm sorry…but…I'm more concerned about him. You're...a good friend to me. But I love Sasuke. Though...I don't know how he'll respond."

Sai's eyes dropped to the floor, as he sighed. He stood up and limped towards a table. Sai silently pulled the drawer out and took out a piece of paper. "Sakura...this...you remember this?" He allowed the medic ninja to carefully take it and she gasped at it.

"It's the code Sasuke written!" Sakura exclaimed, she looked up at him. "Why do you have it?"

"I had a feeling something like this would happen," Sai muttered, collapsing on the bed. "Do you know what it means?"

Sakura shook her head, gripping the piece of paper. Sai motioned her to sit down next to him. When she did so, he grabbed the paper and got a pen.

"The twelfth letter of the alphabet is L, 15 is O, 22 is V, and 5 is...E," Sai said, replacing each number with the designated number. He felt Sakura looking at it with widened eyes.

"I...love you, Sakura," Sai read, giving the piece of paper back to her. Sakura received it, her face still written with shock. "At the start, he was trying to tell you."

"I have to tell him!" she exclaimed happily. Sakura stood up from the chair, and was in a position to leave, but then Sai grabbed her wrist.

"He's not here," Sai said, looking seriously at her.

"What?"

He let his hand drop, and he sighed. "He's been released from the hospital remember?"

"..."

"I suggest you go."

Sakura nodded, and she ran out of the room, leaving three words for the patient inside.

_"Thank you, Sai."_

--

Running.

The Haruno panted as she skimmed the outside area for any signs of her teammate.

She couldn't find him anywhere, and Sakura expected him to be already gone.

'One last look, and if you can't find him, Sakura. Tell him later,' her inner side whispered. Sakura's head was glancing side to side for him.

Alas, she spotted him walking away, his back facing towards her. Sakura's mouth cracked into a smile as she dashed up to him.

When she was near, the medic leapt onto his back and attacked with a hug. "Sasuke!"

"S-Sakura?!"

He looked at her surprised, as she pulled away from him. "I've been looking all over for you!"

Sasuke stared at her confusedly, "Why? Aren't you and Sai-"

The Haruno silenced him with a quick peck on the lip. She smiled at him, "There's nothing between Sai and me."

"But your description, it-"

"It was describing you," Sakura giggled. Sasuke stared, a blush creeping up his face. She grinned amusedly at his blush, and then asked. "Are you embarrassed?"

"..."

"I have a favor," Sakura asked, hugging Sasuke's arm. The Uchiha stared at the medic curiously. She looked at him and then muttered, "I want to go on a date. Take me to somewhere fun, Sasuke."

Sasuke's mouth twitched into a grin. As his reddened face started to subside, he replied. "Sure."

As the Haruno leaned against Sasuke, she sighed dreamily. "…Sasuke…are you are aware how kawaii you are? And if dare cheat you're in for it!"

In her reply, she received a sweat drop from the Uchiha. "Hai, hai…I understand."

"By the way, where are you taking me?" Sakura asked, while they were walking down the path.

"Ichiraku."

"Ehhhh? That's not fun!"

"I have to repay the dobe after all," Sasuke said with a genuine smile. It was then when Haruno Sakura felt very…lucky she was a girlfriend to a person who can smile perfectly. After a while, his smile fell and he stared at her. "Sakura…is anything on your mind?"

As she was asked that question, she was reminded of another one. Something that she can finally ask him since they're together now.

"Oh…Sasuke? What does 'I miss you mean'?" Sakura asked innocently. Sasuke stopped in his tracks, and looked at her with a mysterious smile. He lifted her chin slightly and stole a quick sweet kiss on her lips. The Uchiha stroked her skin and smiled while saying.

"I miss you. Just that."

But that smile of his…it meant more...

_**End**_.

* * *

AND: It's finished. TT Sasuke really did end up with Sakura! Oh well, I opted to go with the cute ending rather then...intensified kissing. I am very sorry for highly disappointing you all if you expected more than a simple confession.

I rushed through the confession and drama, because I hate drama! But I can't really complain since I write drama half the time. -contradicting self-

Reveiw if you want the epilougues to come out fast!


	17. Epilogue 1: My Meaning

_**A/N: And...the series are over, but what's the true meaning behind Sasuke's...'I miss you'? This little story telling of his meaning is told by his perspective.**_

* * *

_It's been already three months since the whole Sakura incident. _

_A week after the bet was over; I had another encounter with Sai. Instead of glaring and being all competitive, we both agreed that everything was placed in that past, and there would be no grudges against each other. Naruto was there to make sure of our promise. _

_Sakura and I have been pretty tight during the three months and we're a perfect couple. Sometimes there are fights and disagreements, but Naruto, again, helped us every time. _

_I guess I owe Naruto a lot. He's been a great friend and had been trying to get everyone happy. Well, I can say confidently, that getting Sai happy was hard for him. Sai never put down his 'sweet' act in front of Sakura, and sometimes I think that it endangers our relationship._

_That little journal I kept while I was in the hospital got rediscovered by Sakura. After reading several entries, she faced me and asked about the code. _

'_Why did you say "I miss you?"' was her question. _

_My answer? Well. I never told her one. I just shrugged and went on with what I was doing. _

_Ha. I guess I should say that since the beginning of our genins day, she seemed like a parasite at first. Sakura always smothered me with hugs, cries, and obvious signs of affection. _

_As she continued to do so, I realized that she meant every action directed towards me. Not to only catch my attention, but it was starting to get real. She eventually grew out of her infatuation. _

_Everything she did for me was out of love. At first it didn't grow on me, but each day it just grew. _

_I missed her, not only during the times I was gone, but I missed the old Sakura even now. I missed my chance to telling her about it. The weird feeling that prods at me whenever I'm reminded of her. _

_I think back to the hardships I dealt with in order to win Sakura, that I was an idiot to ignore those feelings. _

_That's the meaning of my three words. Hn…_

_But…_

_Sakura doesn't need to know that. _

_I guess I'll keep this to myself…_

_For now…_


	18. Epilogue 2: Arigatou Naruto

_**A/N: And this is Epilogue 2. Again, this is told in Sasuke's perspective. However...you may find that this story is hinting to a NaruHin short story. Possibly a threeshot. BUT, it's hinting. I'm not really sure of it...**_

* * *

_Before when I said Naruto helped me a lot. I mean…a lot. _

_He has given me advice, even though it wasn't helpful. I have to admit that I kind of have to thank Naruto for shoving Sakura and I into the closet. Well now that I think back to the incident, I can't even pull out several things to thank Naruto for. He's always been there.  
__  
Now, three months later, Naruto's being more helpful than ever. _

_But not just the helpful 'get-an-old-lady-across-the-street'. _

_But the helpful 'get-everyone-a-special-person'. _

_Lately, he's been trying his hardest in getting Sai a special person. Hey, I have to feel bad for that guy who lost Sakura to me. _

_Anyways, not only do I…ahem…feel bad for Sai, I have a feeling that Naruto's been depressed somehow. _

_Maybe there's a purpose to why the dobe has been doing these things…_

_After several observances, I noticed that…the Hyuuga girl, was it Hinata? But anyways, I noticed that Hinata had been blushing ever furiously before Naruto._

_Of course, everyone, except Naruto, knows that her major crush is him. _

_Somehow…as smart, yes, I admit Naruto's smart, as he is…Naruto hasn't figured out that he has a huge admirer. _

_Maybe this might turn out to be another story…_

_A story with Naruto and Hinata…_

_And if there was…_

_I'll be the first to mess with them. _


	19. Epilogue 3: It's Their Life Now

_**A/N: This is the last of the last epilogues. You must have gotten tired of reading them. xD But anyways, fret not, this is the last one. **_

_**This story is telling of what happens after...a lot of years, so this is their life now. **_

* * *

"_Here's the report on Sunagakure," a twenty-seven year old man said. He handed several documents to a similar aged man sitting behind a large desk. _

_The robed man scratched his mass of blond hair and examined the kanji written documents. Finally, he placed it down on his desk and looked up at the jounin with bright blue eyes. "…You __**fail**__."_

_The raven-haired adult looked down at the blond kage, and their eyes met. "…"_

"_Kidding! Such fine report though, I didn't expect you to write everything out!" the Hokage replied, giving a foxy grin. The man shuffled the papers and straightened it out. "You know, the position for an ANBU black op is open, Sasuke." _

_Sasuke closed his onyx eyes and shrugged. "Lord Hokage, I rather not be far away from __**them**__." _

_The Uzumaki chuckled and intertwined his fingers. "You changed a lot." _

_Sasuke reopened his eyes and smiled. "Thanks to you." After a moment of silence, the Uchiha spoke up again, "Ah. You changed also. Not using much enthusiasm now a days…"_

_Naruto's eye twitched and he swung his foot onto the desk top. "Being Hokage's tiring. All signing stuff and etcetera. I'm tired these days. BUT!" _

_The Hokage jumped from his chair and landed next to his friend. The blond haired ninja leaned against his companion, and directed him to look out an open window. _

"_You know if there's a kid to play with! UZUMAKI NARUTO IS THERE!" he replied, with a large grin. Sasuke just shook his head and smirked. _

"_Ever so soft with kids?"_

_Naruto's eyes opened slightly as realization struck him. "Ah…Sasuke," he massaged the Uchiha's shoulders and asked hopefully, "Can I come over for dinner?" _

_Sasuke said nothing as he brushed the Hokage's hand off his shoulder. "Stop being a leech. Go to Hinata if you're hungry."_

_The Uzumaki's eyes grew watery. "B-B-But…I wanna play with __**him**__!" _

_The jounin responded by turning around and walking towards the door. "Lord Hokage. You have work to do, stop complaining and do it." _

_Naruto pouted and returned to his seat. "Oy, teme!"_

"_Hn?"_

"_Quit with the 'Lord Hokage' mumbo jumbo! It sounds retarded when you say it." _

_Sasuke grinned and looked back. "Yeah, whatever, dobe." _

_--_

_The Uchiha exited the building and looked at the village in which had changed during the years of Naruto's leadership. It was clean and orderly. Trees were planted and the environment was restored. Most important of all, Naruto created a system in the genin cells which would put an end to favoritism. Everything has changed. _

_Sasuke walked down the lonely path towards one of the things that held memory. He turned the corner and walked up to a metal gate. His onyx eyes gazed upon the large plot of land with many houses. _

_Carved in a plaque next to the gate read, "Uchiha."_

_It was his old home; Sasuke haven't thought of returning to such a site. Though…_

_He swung open the gate and looked inside. _

_It used to be deserted; now…there was noise coming from inside the house. Sasuke walked up towards the door and slid it open. _

"_Sasuke!" _

_Someone attacked him with a glomp. He fell onto the floor with a slim figure choking the air out of him. She brushed away her pink bangs and smiled at him, while siding of. _

"_Gomen, Sasuke. I thought you'd never be home," she said, giving a ditzy smile. The Uchiha sat up and looked at her in disbelief._

"_I was only gone for one week."_

"_Still! I missed you," she protested, while checking his body for any injury. "Are you hurt? Anywhere?"_

_Sasuke stood up and dusted his black pants from the floor. He looked at her while saying ever so stoically, "No, Sakura. I'm fine." _

_The medic stood up and gave a relieved sigh. "Thank goodness, you haven't known how much the two missed you!" _

_He gave a smile. "Really? I'm sure Mechi wouldn't worry, but…" _

"_Oh, I forgot to tell you something!" Sakura exclaimed. She pulled him by the arm and led him outside into the backyard, where a giant cat was standing. "Mechi!" _

_The black cat figure turned around and lit up when it saw Sasuke. "Sasuke-sama! You're back! I missed you sooo mucho!" _

_Said person sweat dropped, as the black cat started to ramble about stuff in the house. "Uhm…I missed you too…I think." _

_Unexpectedly, small a small wisp of smoke arose behind the cat. Mechi noticed at the last minute and screamed. _

"_NYOOOOOOOO!!!" _

_He swiped a bundle away from the fire and ran towards the couple who were sweat dropping at his clumisness. _

"_You're an irresponsible summon. I thought you'd be capable of handling him," Sasuke said, staring down hard at the cat. The adult was about to continue insulting him, but Sakura stopped him with a touch of her hand. _

"_Sasuke, Mechi's trying the best he could. Try not to scold him…please." _

"…"

_During the silence something rustled in the bundle that Mechi was holding. Gingerly it poked a head out and examined Sakura and Sasuke. _

"_I'm home," Sasuke said with a smile, while opening his arms. _

_The raven-haired baby broke out in a smile and exclaimed while leaping into his hands..._

"_Dada!" _

* * *

_**A/N: If you noticed in the Japanese language, babies tend to stick to: 'Papa' rather than 'Mama.' So it was strange that their one year old called Sasuke 'Dada'.**_

**_Then again...their kid is unique. ;D_**

**_But...this is my last and final farewell to this story. I hope you enjoyed this whole story overall. And...if there's a sequel to it, I will be sure to place a large announcment on my profile. _**

**_-bows to all- _**

**_Arigatou Goizaimasu!_**

**_..OWARI..._**


End file.
